I haven't attended Bible study lately. The study of Revelation we embarked on has gone one direction - toward futurism, and dissent is frowned on.
The way I read the Scriptures, the end times have passed and the era of peace, prosperity, and happiness is here. The kingdom of heaven is here.
Daniel says that when the last foreign ruler subjugates Israel, God will establish His kingdom on the earth (2:44). While Israel was subject to Rome, its last foreign ruler, Paul says that the Church is here to stay (Eph. 3:21).
And there we have it. Christianity is the kingdom of heaven on the earth. The wars and earthquakes that Jesus warned his generation of in the Olivet discourse occurred during the Roman-Jewish Wars, after which Israel finally and fully lost all viability as a state. After the failed Bar Kokhba Revolt in AD 132, the Jewish Age had come to an end, and the Christian Age, like a fig tree in springtime sprouting green shoots, waiting for summer, ready to blossom, would begin.
I'm aware that most Christians believe that the end of the age that the Bible tells us of refers to the end of the current age, and I don't understand why. Might someone enlighten me? Has the Apocalypse come and gone? Why or why not?
So the mark of the beast, where everyone will have to have a mark on the hand, or the head, to engage in economic transactions, that has already happened? Because I still carry cash, even to this day.
That's not a mark on the head or hand.
And there is already one person that swayed all the nations of the earth? When did that happen? Who was it, that has universal support globally?
And if the era of peace is here.... why were those Coptic Christians from Egypt video recorded having their heads cut off?
The age of peace under the ruler Jesus Christ the Lord, has not happened. During that time, all the nations of the Earth will stop with war, because there will be no war, nor threat of war. We still make tanks, and so do the Russians, and everyone makes guns and war. So that has not happened.
If this really is the age of peace and prosperity, then it really sucks, and I am completely disappointed.
Now, as for Daniel 2:44. It says God will establish a kingdom. Did that happen? We believe so, as in the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.
Jesus himself said this in John 18:36
Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”
So did Jesus have a Kingdom? Yes, or he was lying and none of this matters. Is the Kingdom here on this Earth? No. Or his servants would fight for him, according to his own word.
Implication G-d created a Kingdom, not a Kingdom on Earth, but a Kingdom of Heaven, filled with the followers of their ruler, Jesus Christ the Lord. If you don't think that is what this verse is about, just read the rest of the verse and compare it to what happened.
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but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever."
The Kingdom will not be destroyed, but it will break into pieces and consume all these nations. Is that not exactly what has in fact happened in the past, is happening today, and will likely happen in the future?
Christianity, has been broken into bits by persecution around the world, and because of that, has spread around the world. Nearly every single country in the world today, has pockets of believers in Christ Jesus the Lord. Saudi Arabia, has pockets of Christian believers.
And what about that part of the Kingdom being broken into bits? Is that not exactly what has happened? Clearly there is no doubt the prophesy has, and is, and will continue to come true. The fastest growing Christian group today, is in the anti-religious atheist basted China. The second fastest is the Orthodox christian churches in Russia and Ukraine, and other former Soviet countries.
I have no doubt that one way or another, they too will be consumed.
But to say that this is the same Kingdom spoke of in Revelation chapter 20, is simply not true.
First, that Kingdom will be temporary. Jesus will come to reign on Earth directly, for a specific amount of time, and then it will end. That is why it is referred to as the Millennial Kingdom, because it will last just 1,000 years.
Second, during that time, Satan will be bound up. All you have to do is see for yourself that Satan is still free on the Earth today.
Third, the Martyrs will come back, and be given power to rule under Jesus the Lord. These are the people who were killed for refusing to worshiping the anti-Christ the ruled before Jesus. I don't see any being killed for refusing to worship the anti-Christ, the one world ruler.
So the Millennial Kingdom of peace and prosperity has not come yet. If it has, then man has this whole thing been a waste.