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Recently, a guy by the name of Phillip Garrido was found to have allegedly kidnapped, raped, and fathered children with a young girl (Jaycee Duggard). As I read the chilling story in the news, I was absolutely shocked and disgusted.

How could anyone do something so terrible to an innocent child? How could a grown man allegedly kidnap a young girl, hold her captive, rape her, and more for years and years?

But just as I thought the story couldn’t get any worse, it did. I found out that this man was using the “G” word quite a bit. What “G” word is it? God.

This man who was allegedly keeping a kidnapped woman captive in a small shed in his backyard for years, was talking about “God this” and “God that”. As I researched it more, I found that he was even attempting to start some type of ministry! Wow. I was horrified.

I found myself in complete and utter shock. Obviously, I don’t know every detail, and only God can truly judge someone, but it struck me as so odd that this man could actually think he was religious and following God, while at the same time allegedly doing some of the worst sins listed in the Bible. Why was that? How can someone attempt to start a religion about God, while doing things God says not to do? How can one confess Christianity, but bear ungodly fruit?

I can’t even begin to try and unravel what kind of psychological problems Mr. Garrido might have, but I do know this: He was compartmentalizing his life in an extreme way, and many Christians today do the same (albeit, not as extreme). In fact, a compartmentalizing  sinning Christian often gives Christianity a bad name.

What Is Compartmentalization, and Why Should We Guard Ourselves From It?

We all know what a compartment is, right? It is defined as a space in which an area is subdivided. If you can imagine a house diagram, each room is a “compartment” within the entire space of the house.

So bedroom 1 is a compartment (where you sleep), the kitchen is another compartment (where you eat), the bathroom is a compartment, etc. etc.

Humans have a tendency to compartmentalize things in their life. They act a certain way at a job, then another way with friends, another way with relatives, and so forth. Their values, attitudes, beliefs,  and language may change depending on their environment.

Sometimes it can be natural or even acceptable to compartmentalize your general behavior. You wouldn’t exactly speak about the same topics to your grandparents in the same way you may speak to your spouse.

But sometimes this can be abused, and people can compartmentalize their faith. This is why we hear of preachers who were having homosexual relationships, while preaching from the pulpit against homosexuality. This is why someone can kidnap a girl, and yet think they are doing God’s will.

It is also why you may see someone claiming to be a Christian on a myspace or facebook page, while reading about how much sex they had out of wedlock last weekend…

It is dangerous to compartmentalize your faith, and we should all seek to remove this behavior.

The problem with some Christians today is that they think Christianity or spirituality is something you can take and throw in to a “compartment.” They then compartmentalize their entire life separately from their faith and beliefs. They may have promiscuous sex throughout the week, look at pornography, lie, steal,  curse, do drugs, etc. all while saying they are “born again Christians.”

The bible says NOT to do those things…so if a person really believes in God, why do they still do it? Surely they must realize that God will judge them, right?

What they are doing is living a compartmentalized spiritual life. They have a compartment of spirituality that rarely gets opened. But then, when it comes Sunday, they walk into the “spiritual” compartment of their lives. They sing hymns, chant about God, listen to a sermon, pray, and then go home.

Afterwards, they leave their safe Christian “compartment” yet again and go back to whatever behavior they were doing before. They think it is okay to sin as long as you show up on Sundays, or profess that you are a Christian. They just make sure to occasionally visit the Christian compartment from time to time.

Unfortunately, it just doesn’t work that way folks. Christianity is NEVER to be compartmentalized. If you compartmentalize your faith, you risk failing judgement of God. You risk being guilty of sin on judgment day. Because God surely isn’t going to judge only your “Christian life.” God will judge you based on your ENTIRE life.

The Christian faith isn’t a compartment or room in a house to be kept secret or hid away. It is the foundation on which the house should sit. It is the foundation by which you build your entire life, and every compartment must sit on your faith.

That means you let your faith bleed through every single area of your life. You should be a Christian at work, with friends and enemies, with your spouse, on your Myspace or Twitter, behind closed doors, and every living and breathing second of your life.

You should live for God, breathe for God, sing for God, read about God, pray to God, fear God, strive to be Godly, and yes, even Tweet about God.  How hypocritical is it to talk about a sinner in one breath, while sinning yourself in the next? How hypocritical is it to claim you are a Christian, while in the next paragraph bragging about a recent sin?

Be Brutally Honest, and Judge Yourself

We can avoid creating a Christian compartment in our minds if we are brutally honest when we judge ourselves. I mean even more brutally honest than Simon Cowell from American Idol. We must be brutally honest, and not make excuses for our shortcomings or sins. In addition, we must strive to allow our faith to regulate all areas of our lives.

We cannot be Christians some or even most of the time. We are called to follow Christ 100% of the time.

The bible speaks about judging ourselves:

For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.

-1 Corinthians 11:31

So how do we judge ourselves? We read the bible, and let God’s laws into our minds. We then use the criteria in the bible, and judge ourselves based on those standards.

For example, the bible says we shouldn’t lie. Therefore, we should be brutally honest and ask, “Have I told a lie recently? Am I a liar? Was I dishonest about something?

If we did lie, then we have an obligation to repent, and turn away from that behavior in the future. We should constantly be judging our own actions to ensure they line up with scriptures. When they go against God’s will, we must admit that and repent.

Christianity is not a one time contract you sign and then you are done. I only wish it were that easy. It is a daily struggle. Every day we are confronted with new situations, new temptations, and new frustrations. And every day we must do our very best to follow God’s will for each situation.

This, in my opinion, is the hardest part of Christianity. Anyone can label themselves as a Christian. That is the easy part. But struggling against sin daily is so very hard. We have all fallen short of the glory of God (me included), and we must all judge ourselves and reveal our shortcomings and sins. We all have an obligation to repent from our sins, and admit our mistakes.

This is so hard to do. When I find that I have sinned, I feel terrible. I feel angry (at myself), I feel like I have failed God. I certainly know that feeling of realizing and admitting to a sin or shortcoming. But it is something we must do. I would much rather judge myself and have a chance to repent, than to be judged by God without a chance of repentance.

We must judge ourselves regularly, fully, and truthfully. We cannot afford to have our faith placed in a nice box in our minds, only to be opened when we want to feel warm and fuzzy. We must let our faith rule our lives.

If we place our spiritual life in a “faith” compartment in our minds, isolated away from other behavior or activity, then it automatically means we have other compartments which are not bound by that faith. Those other compartments are free to sin unrestrained.

Instead, we must build all compartments on our faith, so that our faith is exposed in all areas of our lives. God laid the foundations of the universe by His words, and we should build our lives on the foundation of God’s words. Every thought or action should be governed by our faith. We should always walk in the light of God. For if we walk in the light, then we can have confidence in the promise of our Lord.

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Posted under reflections

 Some Questions/Critiques About The End Times Article I Wrote

I had an interesting set of questions come in regarding end times. It helps a lot to know where people are coming from when they ask a question (and by that I mean what their religious beliefs are). At first, I thought this person was perhaps an atheist (as I apparently have a few fans out there).

But then I thought they may perhaps be a Christian Preterist or other unorthodox branch. I still don’t know for sure, so I will try to answer the best I can. This is a rather long reply (just so you are warned).

Here are “Jacks” questions/critiques about the end times, and his skepticism about my article (and the bible in general apparently).  Here are his questions:

Why did you say earthquakes are on the rise when the link that you posted said that they are NOT on the rise?

“As more and more seismographs are installed in the world, more earthquakes can be and have been located. However, the number of large earthquakes (magnitude 6.0 and greater) has stayed relatively constant.”

The USGS says that the reason that the reports show more earthquakes are because there are more instruments recording them.

Okay Jack, this is what I said: “Earthquakes  and  seismic activity seem to be on the increase more and more. Several government statistics show a gradual increasing trend overall for earthquake activity on a worldwide scale.”  Why did I say that? Because the data says that. Numbers don’ lie, only the people showing the numbers.

Are you with me so far Jack, I don’t want to lose you here. I said there “seems” to be an increase. I also said the statistics show a “GRADUAL INCREASING TREND.” Look at the graph of this data below, and you secretly think in your mind if the data suggests an increasing or decreasing overall trend? Hmmm…. So was I right or wrong about the data taken directly from the site for worldwide earthquakes? I was 100% factually accurate. The data absolutely shows a strong upwards trend.

Next, you point out that the website itself says earthquakes are not increasing. I would reply to this by saying:

1. It is rather fallacious to show data that suggests a strong increasing trend, and then turn right around and say the opposite. It is like saying, “The graph shows a clear upwards trend in earthquake activity, however, we don’t believe it.” Absurd! They have no right to suggest they aren’t increasing, when the data shows they are.
2. Second, how do they KNOW that the only reason the trend is increasing is SOLELY because they installed more monitors?  Are they all knowing? Did they secretly know that the earthquakes were still occurring, and yet didn’t include it in the data?  That is like saying you aren’t really aging Jack, you just see more wrinkles and gray hairs because you are looking in the mirror more times per day. Right…

And lastly, you said this in regards to the earthquakes:

Increase in Earthquakes.  I already posted a note on this one.  Again, this is what Jesus said wouldn’t be a sign, anyhow.  Another thing Jesus NEVER said there will be an increase in earthquakes.  Just that there will be earthquakes.

And the award for ridiculous statement of the year goes to….Jack! I lost count of how many times I said in the main article that this wasn’t the end, just the beginning of the signs of the end. The end times is a TIME PERIOD, not a day. So I fully acknowledge it isn’t the end (day), just the signs the end is nearer. So I have no idea why you bring that up in your 3rd sentence above.

You make the false assumption that I am ONLY going by what Jesus said in regards to the earthquakes. I wasn’t. If you read Revelation, it talks very clearly that an earthquake that is greater than any other in the history of civilization (Rev. 16:18). There are many cataclysmic events happening, and increase in earthquake activity, meteor activity, and so forth are revealed.

And even if you just isolated Jesus’ comments about the end times from the rest of the bible (which you apparently have), you aren’t understanding what Jesus is saying. He says in Matthew 24:7

“….and there will be famines and earthquakes in VARIOUS places.

Did you catch that word “various (or divers).” Various implies many. Many implies more.  You can’t have a variety of anything, unless you have many of them. You can not have 1 “kind” alone, unless you have others to compare it to. He says there will be earthquakes in various places. If there are earthquakes happening in VARIOUS places, that means many places, thus, many earthquakes would be required logically. The whole entire context implies an increase, and I don’t know anyone who would argue otherwise. Is that passage really that hard to discern?

Lastly, I never said that in the article that the increasing earthquakes show the end is here did I? No, I finished by saying this:

So this sign seems to be unfolding now gradually, and again will continue to get worse right up until the end.

In other words Jack, this one sign hasn’t been fulfilled yet, but seems to be increasing and is perhaps slowly being fulfilled. I then said it must get worse (as in bad enough to cause significant changes described in Revelation).

So I hope I have cleared up all of your incorrect assumptions and accusations regarding the earthquakes. Moving on to the rest: you then seek to debunk the signs and my commentary on them:

1. Many claim to be Christ.  You admit that this happened in the 1st century.

Actually, I said this has occurred SINCE the first century, and will continue to escalate and increase as the bible says. It has happened in and since the first century, and will happen until the end. That is what I said, that is what Jesus and the bible has said. The end times began when Christ ascended, and they will continue until the end is HERE.

2. Wars and rumors of wars.  You admit that during the 1st century this occurred.  You rightly acknowledge that Jesus stated that these 2 things aren’t signs.  So why did you list them?

Okay Jack, stick with me here, because there is certainly a logical explanation for all of this. If you read the very first post I made in this series here, the point of that post was to just list all (or most) of the major end times signs mentioned. The “end times” is a progressive event, a period of time with many things taking place. The signs mark the beginning of the end, and then things continue to progress until the end is here. Just like when a woman gives birth, the child pains mark the beginning, but a period of time must pass, and other signs must show, before the child is delivered.

You ask, “Why did you list them?” Well Jack, because I said I would. In that first post I said the following at the end:

In the next post, I will look at many of these “signs” one by one to see which (if any) have come to pass.

So does that clear it up for you Jack? In the previous post, I said I would list each one by one, and discuss whether or not they have been fulfilled.  I never said all have been fulfilled did I?  And that is exactly why I listed the ones that even haven’t passed yet.

So that is WHY I LISTED THEM, to discuss each topic! Okay? Does that help you at all? I hope so.

3. Famines.  You speak of severe famines that will soon take place.  Not taking place now, but will soon take place.  So what?  Jesus never said that famines will increase to a certain level.  He merely stated that there will be famines in various places.  There were famines in the 1st century.  Besides that, He’s still talking about the things that might make you think the end is near, but “not to be alarmed… the end is not yet”.  These are not signs.

I stressed countless times in the article and the one before it that these are signs of the beginning of the end, but the end is NOT YET. So why did you go to the trouble of repeating what I typed myself? I clearly say famines have existed since the beginning.

In Revelation, it speaks of severe WORLDWIDE famines that kill a significant part of the world. Jesus said famines in VARIOUS places. If you take the two together, it doesn’t take a genius to figure an increase does it? Or have you somehow figured out a neat mathematical model that can show us how more and more people can die by famines without increasing?

Again, why did I even list famines if it hasn’t been fully fulfilled? Because I said I was going to take each sign of the end and give commentary and my views as to whether or not they have come to pass. Famines will increase right up until the end, at which point there will be MASSIVE famines.

I merely pointed out how the brilliant scientists are going to aid this by messing around with genetics in plants, and how pollution and so forth are setting the stage for a serious famine in the future. “SO WHAT” you say. Well if you aren’t interested in the article, click the little red X at the top of your screen  =). The back button also works well many times.

5. Increase in disease.  Here we go again.  Jesus never said there would be an increase in disease.  Also, not a sign.

Here we go again Jack. Read the whole book, not just what Jesus says. Revelation speaks of major disease that wipes out most of the population. In Revelation 6:7 the the 4th horseman was death, and it killed with sword, famine, pestilence, and by the beasts of the earth.

So once again your statement deserves an award for most ridiculous and unfounded criticism to date. “Also, not a sign” you say. Read the whole book Jack. It helps, I promise. The signs mark the beginning, things continue to get dramatically worse from that point until the end.

6. Signs in the heavens.  You gave no evidence for today.  Jesus said nothing of signs in the heavens increasing.

Once again, this is another thing that has yet to be fully fulfilled. Why did I mention it? Because the whole article is a commentary on the end times Jack. I clearly said it hasn’t all been fulfilled yet. I said it may have started. You may could point to things such as solar flares, increase in meteor showers, asteroids hitting other planets in our solar system, etc. These things happen quite often. I don’t have any data to see if they are increasing or not, but they do happen from time to time.

All I am saying is they will get progressively worse. And the last part you said that “Jesus said nothing of signs in heavens increasing” is absurd. Read Luke 21:

And there will be signs in the sun, and moon, and stars, and on the earth…”

When we consider that statement when we read Revelation, we see that indeed there will be great signs such as the sun being darkened for a prolonged state (such as a unique eclipse), severe meteor activity, the sky’s appearance changing, etc.  This all implies an increase in intensity or activity in the universe. Again, if the signs aren’t here now, and they will be here in the future, that means the activity has INCREASED.

How else could they be noticed unless they are increased from beyond what we see now? We have eclipses now, meteor showers now, etc. They must increase in either intensity or frequency to be distinguished from a common occurrence Jack.

7. Persecution.  You admitted 1st century persecution.  The details He gave all came to pass in the 1st century.

Once again, I know fully that Christians have been persecuted since Christ ascended. I also say that this persecution will INCREASE in the end. That means more and more people will persecute Christians. This still happens today as an article on CNN just a few days ago talk about Christians being killed in the middle east. Churches are burned and vandalized all the time. And so forth. This will get worse in the end times during the Antichrist’s reign. So bad, in fact, they will be killed for simply being Christian.

So once again I clearly say this one has been going on, and will continue to simply exist and get worse right around the end. I see no reason why you feel the need to argue that point.

8. Increase of hate, violence…  None of this can be measured.  Not really a biblical mention of increase.

Um, Jack are you being serious with this one? This will shall be very fun to debunk:

1. You say none of that can be measured. So violence, crime, and so forth cannot be measured according to you? WRONG.

Most statistics will show that crime and violence INCREASE in relation to population.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=990CE5DB163AE733A25753C3A9649D946397D6CF

http://manyeyes.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/visualizations/plot-of-violent-crime-vs-population-

As the population grows, the incidence of rape, violence, crime, and so forth also grows in a positive correlation (in most studies). There are ample scientific statistical studies on this on the web that you can find just by googling. Crime rates are measured all the time.

Not only are these things measurable, but it only makes logical sense that as the population grows, so will these factors. The population is now growing at a very fast rate, which implies that crime, violence, and other things will grow right along with it. That is an increase, and it is MEASUREABLE.

Not only that, but even things like greed could be measurable. Not that anyone would really want to waste their time and money to do such as study, but all of these things could potentially be objectively measured if anyone wanted to do so. I don’t think people really need to do a study to find out that kids are more and more disobedient to parents do they? Do you really need a study to know that the world is getting worse? But here are ways this could be measured to just prove you wrong.

1. Greed–you could analyze the claimed charity deductions on US tax returns to see if there is a decreasing trend in donations (which could imply greed). That is but one way to possibly measure greed.
2. Child disobedience–you could analyze the number of kids being sent to juvenile places due to disobedience. In fact, there actually are studies on this which prove it to be true (just google it).
3. Increase in divorce trends could show increase in selfishness and lust and adultery.
4. In terms of unholiness, you can measure this too. Is there an increase in curse words on television, songs, and radio? Is there an increase in pornography usage/sales in society? Is there an increase in these things or not Jack? You tell me! I don’t see how anyone in their right mind would say these things are decreasing or getting better.

So your claims that these things cannot be measured are ridiculous. If that were true, then you need to contact all of these government offices that produce these statistics and tell them they are wrong, and that in fact there is no way to measure these things because Jack says so, and that they need to fire their statisticians and researchers who spend countless hours researching these things.

Lastly, you say the absurd comment, “Not really a biblical mention of increase in these things.” Um, Jack have you even read the bible? You know, if you are going to try and disprove it, you could at the very least skim it over 1 good time.

People will be lovers of self and money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, no self control, brutal, hating good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying its power, and swayed by all kinds of evil desires.   (2 Timothy 3:1–9)

Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. Matthew 24

See how every verse keeps implying or directly saying an increase in this Jack? How on earth are you missing this, unless you aren’t even reading it?? The bible makes it abundantly clear that things things INCREASE in activity as the end nears. It isn’t the opposite. It isn’t like things get BETTER.

9. Gospel preached to all nations.  This isn’t a sign.  It’s more of their requirement before the end could come.  You say that this wasn’t finished until a few years ago.  The problem is that the bible said that the gospel was preached to all the world in the 1st century.  Rom 1:8 “…I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.”   Col 1:5-6  “because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth”.  Col 1:23  “…the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven.”   If you don’t believe it, don’t argue with me.  Argue with Paul.  He’s the one that said it.

Um, it is listed with the signs Jack. It is given towards the end of the signs. It says this is a requirement that must be fulfilled before the end comes. This has only now been fulfilled in its entirety.

As far as your comment about “I should argue with Paul“, nah, I prefer to argue with you. See, Paul knows what he is doing, you do not. You are pulling verses (probably from some skeptic site), without even examining them to understand the meaning or context. So let me help you out Jack.

Col 1:5-6  “because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth”. 

Does this one even need explaining? I have underlined the “key words” you need to read on this one. The first key word is “Which has come to you.” Who is the “You?” It is the Colossians whom Paul has preached the gospel. They gospel reached them, but still hasn’t reached the whole world. Is Colossians the whole world in your mind or something?

Secondly, Paul says the gospel IS bearing fruit and GROWING. That doesn’t mean it has reached all the earth, that means it is growing (i.e. spreading) all over the earth. It has been spreading up until a year or two ago when it finally reached all of the ends of the earth.

So this verse just proves 2 things:

1. Paul clearly shows us that the gospel has reached the Colossians
2. Paul clearly tells us the gospel is taking root and starting to spread rapidly (which it did historically).

So this verse does nothing to show the gospel has been preached to all the world. In fact, it proves the contrary. On to your next verse:

Col 1:23  “…the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven.” 

Paul writes this in the exact same letter to the Colossians. So do you really think Paul is going to contradict himself just a few sentences later after he says the gospel is still spreading? I think not. Instead, what is the most reasonable explanation for this verbiage Paul is using here? Let me explain.

One day I was watching a football game at my high school. Our school team was winning by 22 points. It was the last quarter, and there was under 1 minute left with no timeouts.

I called my mom, and I said, “Our team won.” Now pay attention Jack, because you will understand what Paul is doing here. My team hadn’t technically won yet, because there was still some time left on the clock. But there was NO WAY the other team could have scored enough points to win in the short amount of time remaining.

So all I did was use verbiage that displayed my confidence and knowledge that my team had basically already won, and from a future perspective it was 100% factually correct (even though current time hadn’t caught up with future truth). They did win, and I was right that they had already won too (in essence).

So when Paul says that the gospel has reached the whole world, all he is doing is simply using verbiage that displays his confidence that the message will reach all nations. Why does Paul have this confidence? For 2 reasons:

1. Paul had faith in Christ, and Christ specifically stated that the gospel will be preached to all nations. Christ was sent by God, therefore, what Christ says is the word of God. The word of God always comes to pass. Therefore, if God says the gospel will be preached to the whole world, it is as good as preached (even in that century).
2. The gospel was spreading with such rigor and speed to all of the surrounding nations, Paul realized that there was nothing that could stop it at this point. It was as good as having already reached every ear.

So it is clear that when examining those scriptures you point out, they are nothing more than verbiage used to indicate Paul’s confidence in the gospel being preached over the world.

Rom 1:8 “…I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.” 

 This verse simply says that the Roman’s faith is becoming well known. Nothing more. It certainly gives no grounds to assume Paul thinks all nations and every person knows about the Roman’s faith. Nonsense Jack!

And who doesn’t use verbiage such as “In the world.”  People will say that all the time. “My mom makes the best salad in the whole world.” Did I actually eat a salad made from every other person in the world? Or am I simply using a common literary phrase which indicates that it is a delicious salad? Obviously the latter.

Paul is simply saying that the Romans are building a great reputation throughout the area for their faith in Christ. Nothing more. You are reading WAY too much into that one.

 10. Travel and knowledge will increase.  Why do you say this is a sign?  Daniel stated that this would happen, but he never called it a sign. 

By the way, in the same verse God told Daniel to seal up the prophesy until the time of the end.  Why?  In Dan 8:26 it says because “it refers to many days from now”.  500 years later John records in Revelation that God told him not to seal up the prophesy of the book because “the time is near” Rev. 22:10.

The entire context of that Daniel passage is regarding the future end times event. We know because God clearly says to “seal the scroll until the end.” It is clear that it is an end time prophecy. So while do you then say “why do you say this is a sign.”

What would you prefer to call it Jack? A prophecy? A sign? A symbol? A key? A hint? Whatever language you want to use, it makes no difference. Knowledge and travel will increase in the period before the end.

I think you must surely realize this time period fits this more so than any other time in the world. Only in this century have we witnessed such an incredible increase in both knowledge and travel simultaneously. This is the most clear sign of the signs, easily discerned by anyone.

Why Was Daniel Told to Seal Up the Prophesy and John Wasn’t?

And now we come to the last part of the above question, which in my opinion, is the only question that was worth addressing in your whole commentary. Why was Daniel told to seal up the prophecy because it was far away, yet John was told to NOT seal the prophecy becaue the time was near?

First, let us consider Daniel, and we will come to John next. Daniel was given a prophecy about the future. The entire Revelation of God has not yet at this point been fulfilled.

In fact, the Messiah (Jesus) had not yet even been born in the flesh. So God tells Daniel to “seal up” the prophecy, because end will not yet be revealed by divine revelation.

Daniel’s insights and visions were mostly based on:

1. The events of the Babylon
2. The events of the Messiah
3. A brief glimpse of the final Kingdom

All of the events of Babylon and the Messiah had not yet been fulfilled. Therefore, God tells Daniel to “seal up” the prophecy. It has not yet been ‘revealed’ and has not yet ‘come to pass.’

God tells Daniel this because it is still nearly 500 years before the Messiah will arrive. Not only that, but much must be fulfilled and explained after the Messiah comes (the Messiah will suffer and die, and the gospel will spread throughout the world, and the final revelation to mankind will be revealed and penned by John). Furthermore, we see in Revelation that the only one God will allow to unseal the scrolls is the only one without sin. This turns out to be the “lamb of God,” also known as Jesus Christ.

So the reasons why God tells Daniel to seal up the words of the prophecy are quite obvious: The time is far away, and more of God’s plan must be revealed first, and the unsealing will only be done by the one worthy to unseal them. There are other prophecies that have yet to be fulfilled, therefore the scroll must remained sealed. More will happen to mankind and we will eventually see the completion of God’s divine revelations. Makes sense, right? He should seal the book because the entire revelation hasn’t been completed.

So why is John told to NOT seal the words of the book because the time WAS  near, while Daniel was told the time was far away? If we back up to the beginning of Revelation, we see that each of the scrolls are opened. Who is able to open the scrolls? Only the Holy one of God known as Jesus Christ.

As each scroll opens, dramatic events unfold. Notice also the use of the biblical numerology of the number 7. There are sevel scrolls, and sevel seals. 7 is the number of completeness in the bible (God creates the world in 6 days with 1 day of rest which =7).

Then after all of these events, John is told to NOT seal back up the words of the book. Why? The reason? The time was near. The revelation had finally been revealed, and there is no more of God’s divine revelation that will be revealed until the end. The end is near, because God’s revelation is now ceasing.

The bible tells us that the revelation is now complete, and even says,

“Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.” Revelation 22:11

Why Does the Bible Suggest Christ’s Return May Be Soon, and the Time Is Near 2,000 Years Ago?

People often wonder why the bible sometimes uses language to indicate the end times may be “near” even in the years immediately following Jesus’ death, yet it has been some 2,000 years since and still Jesus has not returned. Why is that? Is the bible wrong? Was Jesus wrong?

In almost every case of an alleged, “time is near” comment occurs in the bible, we can decipher the context and reference to what the “time is near” means, or what it is referencing. In other words, the “time is near” type of verbiage that is used must be examined on a “scripture by scripture” basis to discern what it is referring to (i.e. a prophecy, second coming, etc.).

The Biblical Reason for Using Language of the Time Being Near

The bible makes it abundantly clear that no one knows the end time date but God alone. Not the angels, or even Jesus Christ (by His own admission). So then when we understand that basic  principle, it doesn’t seem so unreasonable to reconize the fact that they suspect the end is near, but do not know when it will happen.

It is true that many disciples thought the end would come in their lifetime, at least at certain points in their lifetime. Notice I said the word “thought.” This was their own suspicions, not a revelation or divine order. They knew that many things must be fulfilled, and some probably suspected the end may come before they died on Earth, as do many Christians today.

Does this mean that the disciples weren’t inspired by God? Of course not. If you received a divine order from God, does that mean you automatically know all of the details of the universe? Of course not.

An owner of a business may let an employee or manager in on some details of the operations, but that doesn’t mean the employee automatically knows every single detail of the business. God is over the entire universe, and while God has called up Prophets and His Son, that does not imply that he has magically zapped every shred of knowledge into them as well. God only reveals what God chooses to reveal for His purposes.

Jesus clearly instructed the disciples that the end time is not for them to know, and it is for God to know, and that point is stressed several times. In fact, no date is ever given, not even in Revelations. Sometimes the languages of “time is near” or “at hand” or “final hour” is used.

Therefore, what we can do is examine each scripture and see what each “time is near” phrasing is actually referencing. Here are some common scriptures that are used by skeptics to allege Christ’s return was falsely believed to be imminent.

Scripture Concerning the Return Time of Christ

It is important to note that the argument of “hey, what happened to Jesus” has already been made some 2,000 years ago. It is addressed plainly in the bible, with a very good response:

3Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,

 4And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

 5For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:

 6Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:

 7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

 8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

 9The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

(2 Peter Chapter 3)

I don’t know how the bible can address this any more clearly. Jesus’ 2nd return is a serious and literal event. It did NOT happen during the disciples lives in the context of the “Great 2nd coming.”

Some may think Jesus is “late” but that is just non-sense. Christ will return to establish the Kingdom of God, and will rule at the Father’s right hand.

Scriptures That Are Abused and Used by Skeptics/Theologians to Suggest Jesus is Late

“Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.” — Matthew16:28

“But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God.” — Luke 9:27

“Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.” — Mark 9:1

This scripture makes it quite clear that some standing there would not “taste death” until they saw the second coming of Christ. Does this mean he would literally return? Nope. It means what it says: Some standing there wouldn’t die until they “SAW” Christ coming in his kingdom. Did anyone standing there see this? Yep!

John was given this exact Revelation while in Patmos. So therefore this was fulfilled exactly. John saw the Christ coming in his kingdom. Notice it doesn’t say ALL standing here, but SOME standing here. It also says they will “SEE” the Son of man coming. John SAW it in a vision.

Some Christians point to the Transfiguration of Christ to also indicate fulfillment of this verse. I think the Revelation to John is much more fitting, but perhaps that is also another example. In any event, this was fulfilled without having to resort to some kind of “Jesus already came” type of non-sense theology.

So this scripture does absolutly nothing for the skeptic/preterist but make the bible appear even more solid…sorry…

“Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.” — Matthew 23:36

If you actually look at this verse, the context makes it quite clear that the pharisees of this generation will be judged accordingly. That is it. Nothing implies that this generation will be judged before Jesus’ death. It only says, all of the judgments will come upon that generation. So therefore, it is only logical to assume the judgements would come during….the great judgement, which has not yet occurred.

This verse does nothing to suggest Jesus was returning in the lifetime of the disciples or pharisees of the time. It simply says that the generation of the pharisees at Jesus’ time would have a great judgment against them when the great judgement takes place.

“Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.” — Matthew 24:34

“Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.” — Mark 13:30

“Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.” — Luke 21:32

Once gain, when we examine the context and reference in the passages above, we can clearly see what is going on here. Jesus simply says that “this generation” will not pass away “until all be fulfilled.”

So let’s break down each part of that phrase, and examine the context. Who is “this generation” Jesus is referring to? The context shows us that “this generation” is quite clearly a future generation when considering the end times, and the present generation when considering the destruction of the temple.

Jesus skips to the future to talk about signs and events in the end times and the end of the age. He then jumps back into the present time, and tells the disciples that “This generation” meaning “this generation I just told you about” will not “pass away until all is fulfilled.” So Jesus tells us that the generation that witnesses the last of the signs will not pass away until the end comes. Those last signs are a big deal.

Next, we have the ambiguous word “generation.” What is a generation in the bible? It can mean0 years, 120 years, 1,000 years (such as Methuselah’s time), or any time in between (or even greater). So we do not know how long a generation lasts in this context of Jesus’ own words. It could be any amount of time. But one thing is clear, the generation that sees the last of the great signs will not pass away until Christ is revealed.

So once again under skeptic scrutiny, this verse does not imply at all Jesus was meant to come back at any point in the disciples lifetime.

“Nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.” — Matthew 26:64

“And ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.” — Mark 14:62

Here again we see skeptics taking verses out of context, and trying to suggest Jesus is late. All Jesus says is that those present will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds. It says nothing about it happening during their earthly life. It just says it will happen at some point and they will witness it in some context.

It is presumed that they will witness Christ in the clouds and power during his great return, and during the resurrection and judgment. Nothing more, nothing less. These verses do nothing for the skeptic but to show how they strip any verse they can to make any twisted point they can, without any regard to the context or meaning.

“Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?” — John 21:22

All Jesus is saying here is that, “If it is my will that I do or do not come during your life, what is it to you?” The bible itself even disproves this verse, and comes right out and says that anyone who suggests this means Jesus will come during their life is WRONG, because that wasn’t what Jesus said. He just said it doesn’t matter when he comes, whether during their life, or much later.

I am surprised that is even mentioned on a skeptic site.

“Waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ … that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” — 1 Corinthians 1:7-8

“That ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ. — Philippians 1:10

“I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” — 1 Thessalonians 5:23

“Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” — 1 Thessalonians 4:17

Christians today are still waiting for Christ’s return, as are all of the “dead in Christ.” That doesn’t mean Christ is late! It just means that we should always be like Christ, because we are always waiting for his return (since we do not know when it will be). He can come any time, therefore we should always be prepared since we do not know that time he will return.

It does nothing to imply that Jesus is late, or he was supposed to come at a certain time. To think that, you would have to ignore the countless verses where Jesus clearly says no one knows the time. Some may have suspected it would be in their lifetime (as do Christians today), but that doesn’t mean scripture taught that. It just means they suspected it could be any day. So what.

That does nothing to prove anything.

“But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none.” — 1 Corinthians 7:29

“Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son….” — Hebrews 1:2

“But now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” — Hebrews 9:26

“Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.” — 1 Peter 1:20

“But the end of all things is at hand.” — 1 Peter 4:7

“Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.” — 1 John 2:18

“The Lord is at hand.” — Philippians 4:5

“For the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.” — James 5:8

“For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.” — Hebrews 10:37

Once again, the above verses are great to show us what we already know from the bible. Let me just restate those facts:

1. No one knows the time or hour, but God alone.
2. No one knows the time or hour, but God alone.
3. No one knows the time or hour, but God alone.
4. No one knows the time or hour, but God alone.

Do you get my point? The disciples are merely saying that the time must be drawing near, because the Messiah has appeared, risen, and is seated at the right hand of God waiting to return. Therefore, THE largest event in history has just been completed, and the major event left now is the return of Christ and Judgement.

Therefore, it is only logical that the time is near, it could be any minute. They were preparing their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to put on the armor of God.

We Christians always need to live as if Christ could return the next minute, or that we could die any minute. For that is the nature of life. Christ can return any time the Father wills, and we can die at any time the Father wills. Therefore, we should be ready every breathing second, that the breath that comes out of us may be the last.

So I completely applaud each disciples use of the “Time is Near” languages to help ready the church. They preached truth, because the time is at hand. They don’t know when the exact time will be (neither do I), but it is always factual to say the time is near, or at hand.

“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass. — Revelation 1:1

“The time is at hand.” — Revelation 1:3

“Behold, I come quickly.” — Revelation 3:11, 22:7, 22:12

“Surely I come quickly.” — Revelation 22:20

Lastly, we look to the book of Revelation to discern why the “time is at hand” language is used. Does this mean that Jesus is promising to soon? Does this mean Jesus is late?

Once again, this does nothing at all to prove that. The first verse above ”Which shortly must come to pass” and then “the time is at hand,” is obviously talking about the vision which is soon to come to pass, not the end times in entirety (as in the present time of John). Rather, it is talking about the fulfillment of it in the “futuristic” sense of visions being witnessed by John. 

We can know this because even while the visions are being given one by one to John, it still talks about the “next woe that is soon to come.” (Revelation 11:14). So when it says, “These things which must soon come to pass,” it is logical to assume it is referring to the visions themselves being seen, and not the actual completion of the events in human history.

When then come to the third verse above, which is, “Behold I come quickly.” The context of these verses indicate it is speaking of the MANNER in which Christ returns, not the TIME. He returns QUICKLY (as in the twinkling of an eye). It does not mean he is coming IMMEDIATELY (as in within a few years/minutes). Again, it just refers to the quickness and unpredictability of Christ’s arrival. He will come quickly, like a thief, in the twinkling of an eye, (completely unexpectedly).

Lastly, we have the final chapter of Revelation, which tells us again not to seal up the prophecy because the time is “near.” I have a few more things to say about this verse, and let me point out the obvious:

1. It doesn’t say an exact date, only that it is near. This differs from other propechies in the bible (such as the ones listed in Daniel). God clearly wants to keep the exact time undefined.
2. The relativity of “near” is not defined. Soon/near is a relative term. Soon to whom? 1 day is not much different than a 1000 years outside of this dimension. Soon to Christ may be 5,000 years. He may have consciously used relative language so to alert Christians to ALWAYS be prepared.
3. We have clues from the bible from Revelation itself that we can know when the return of Christ is here. There will be a culmination of all signs. That hadn’t happened in John’s time, so while some may have mistakenly assumed the time may come in their life, if they took time to discern the other “signs” they would know it wasn’t ending then.
4. God probably has a very good reason for not disclosing the exact time. Ever notice how many prisoners convert to Christianity when they are facing lethal injection or the electric chair? If God gave us a time-stamp, then it is obvious many people would wait until the last minute to repent.

Some Final Words Regarding the Return of Christ

I just want to make a few final conclusion points about this last part of Christ’s return. Just remember these key points:

1. No one knows when Christ’s return will be (not even Jesus). It is when the Father wills for it to happen. Only the Father knows this time and day.
2. The disciples did not know all things, as they themselves even admit. So when they say the time is near, it is simply verbiage to display their own (factually accurate) belief that since Christ has risen, he could return any moment. The moment is now “at hand, imminent, and pending.”
3. The bible NEVER places a time stamp on Christs return, and in fact, leaves it open and ambiguous. The only verbiage is that it may be “near.” Near is a very relative term, as it is clear that time is of no meaning to God (or any being who is not under the constraint of time). 1 day is as 1000 years.
4. The fact that many scoff even today and say, “What happened to Jesus” just proves the bible’s truth, and also proves that He hasn’t returned yet, as the bible CLEARLY indicates that everyone will know will Christ has returned.
5. Other signs and events must transpire (according to Jesus) before the end is HERE.

Turning the Tide on Jack: Critique Your Own Beliefs Please

I have now taken considerable time to address each and every one of your critiques (and then some) in detail. My question to you is: Will you do the same to your own beliefs?

Because there are major holes in your theology (or lackthereof), which simply do not make sense. Again, I do not know if you are an atheist, preterist Christian, or what. At first I thought perhaps atheist, but after reading your scriptural quotes, I think perhaps you are a believer who believes in a preterist type theology. But in any event, I suppose it doesn’t matter.

In any false doctrine or wacky theology, there is always an 80/20 rule. If a doctrine is wrong, you must believe in 20% of the scriptures that support the false doctrine, while at the same time ignoring the whopping 80% which contradict or disprove the other 20% (incorrectly interpreted false doctrinal) scriptures. This happens with any false religion, false teaching, or false doctrine.

People take the 20% (or less) of scriptures out of context, and ignore a whopping 80% to make it fit into a new idea. We must take the bible as a whole to get an accurate understanding. We cannot isolate a few verses and build a false doctrine by using those in place of accurate 80% verses.

This seems to be exactly what you have done here. You are dismissing the end times, and instead looking at this as if it already happened (if you are a preterist), or won’t happen ever (if you an atheist). You would have to write of 90% of the bible as symbolic to dismiss the truth of end times promises, in which case why believe it at all?

I mean, if you think Revelation is all just a bunch of symbolic stuff that happened thousands of years ago, what good is it to follow God? What promise do we have of a resurrection? What promise do we have of a Holy ruler? None whatsoever! God cannot lie, and this has been promised since the beginning.

Here are but a few of the major problems you face if you are a Christian preterist, or assume Christ has already returned:

1. Why hasn’t Earth passed away if Christ already returned? The bible makes it clear that Heaven and Earth will pass away, and God will create a new one just like he created this one. Only, there will be no more evil. If Christ already came, why does evil still exist? Why does it seem that evil is getting worse, and morality is decaying faster than a sugar coated tooth?
2. Why did Christ say every eye shall see, and every tongue shall confess when he comes, yet people still deny Christ? If he has already come, then everyone should acknowledge he is the Messiah.
3. Revelation talks of major cataclysims, none of which have happened. It says mountains flatten (I live in the mountains Jack), it says most of the world’s population will be devasted (we are at record populations).
4. If Christ has already returned, why hasn’t God judged me? Why was I born? Why weren’t the laws of God written on my heart as the bible says will happen in the new Earth?
5. Why won’t the lamb lie with the lion?
6. Why isn’t the world and government ruled by a theocracy as dictated by God? It clearly says that God places Christ over his kingdom as ruler. This is a literal kingdom.
7. Why do we not have a temple? Why isn’t there a new temple that has been constructed to the dimensions in the bible? Even Ezekiels temple has yet to be built (which is presumed to take place during the millenial reign of Christ).
8. Why hasn’t THE antichrist came? No one has been able to dominate the entire world, and don’t even try to suggest Nero or one of these other guys was the AntiChrist. He doesn’t even fit the bill.
9. If you believe Christ has already returned (the 2nd coming), then that doesn’t make sense either. Soon after Christ returns, we have the millenial reign. No one in history has recorded this event as of yet.
10. And those are just serious theological problems off the top of my head, without even cracking open the scriptures. So the idea that Christ has already came the 2nd time is nonsense. The idea that Christ will never return is even bigger nonsense.

Your final comment was:

It’s late.  I may continue later, but the question: “Are we in the end times right now?”  I think is spurious since the Bible declares that the 1st century believers were in the last days.

 If you think end times topics are “spurious,” then why do you waste your time writing about it and debating? I think it is fascinating, and I think the bible has a great deal to say about it. Granted, there is a lot I don’t know, and a lot the bible doesn’t reveal in detail. But I would hardly call it spurious.

The 1st century believers were indeed in the last days. They just didn’t know how long the “last days” would be. The end times started the second Christ rose to sit at God’s right hand. They have slowly been progressing. The time is “at hand” because Christ could return any moment. We have been in the end TIMES since 2000 years ago. We are not at the end MOMENT yet, but we are in the end TIMES.

I stil personally think more will happen before Christ returns, but that is just my opinion. I could easily be wrong.

In any event, I thank you for your critque. As much as I love to respond to these things, I am going to take a break for a while on the debating thing to focus on other topics.

Thanks again Jack, and God bless.

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