Revelation prophecy is going to happen no matter what. If this isn’t the end times and this evil force had all this power and are about to lose it I would imagine they just want every soul they can get until Christ comes again. They don’t care if they have to retreat into the shadows again, they have the antichrist they are trying to usher in. They will usher in the antichrist just like Christ will come back. Whether they can get one soul or a million they will take the most souls they can get. Just a thought I had and wanted to share.
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Revelation was about the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 70 AD by Rome (7 heads / horns was the 7 hills / rulers of Rome). It was a localized judgment. It was so clear to Christians at the time they were the only ones that survived by fleeing to the hill when they saw the signs of the coming judgment.
Nero Caesar was that antichrist. John’s command to “calculate” (ψηφισάτω) the number of the beast is a term that was used for numerical calculation. Nero’s name and title in Greek, and transliterate it into Hebrew (קסר נרון), and then take the numerical value using the gematria it equals 666. He was killing Christians for sport and burning them at the stake to light his dinner parties (hence the name "Roman Candles")
God wins. Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father making all His enemies His footstool. He doesn't hit a reset button. He is victorious and crushes Satan under His heel. We're watching that happen now.
The Bible tells us In the last days it will be just like in the days of Noah. Who was swept away and destroyed from the earth in the days of Noah? The wicked.
God doesn't destroy the world. He doesn't whisk Christians away. There is no rapture. That's all pre-millennial dispensationalism that crept into the church with the publication of the Scofield Reference Bible which was the first Bible with eschatology (the study of end times) footnotes. It was widely adopted by preachers at that time and in crept the lie. It wasn't what the early church believed at all.
It's the greatest lie the devil ever told to the church. It's gotten Christians to celebrate when things get worse instead of fight and build and plan for 100 years in the future. Thinking any moment Jesus is going to come and rapture them away.
Here's a great playlist of sermons, discussions and debates on this subject.
Some points ai agree with, others I've a different view, but by and large, we are on the same page. Except:
God's plan is to rescue and restore his Children and His sovereign rule over earth, both the spirit and the flesh (spiritual and the material realms). But how exactly that plays out depends on the active role of humans. Our free will can either hinder, slow down, or speed up God's work. Because its a TEAM effort - the Parent and the Children together. That's a family.
But yeah, we are now seeing the destruction of the Satanic world, and the advent of Christ's kingdom, where He is sovereign not just in the Spirit, but also on the Earth.
COnclusion: God's will is God's will, but all humans have a role to play. The stronger we fight, the more we align with Him and the more we take responsibility to bring Our Father's kingdom, the less people will have to suffer, and the faster the work get done.
Hence, we should never just relax, and yeah, sitting back and thinking Christ is gonna rapture the faithful away is a massively mistaken idea (Lord, didn't I do x, y and z in your name? Depart from me, you evil doer....)
my $0.02
I think they God a sovereign over everything including salvation. Free will is isnt something that is taught in the bible.
If we're not in Christ our natural inclination is to do evil and we're only held back by God's grace. If we're in Christ then our inclination is to follow God's law that is written on our heart.
God doesn't need our cooperation any more than Jesus needed Lazarus to cooperate with him to raise him from the dead. He uses us for His glory to tell His story.
This entire story was written before the world was ever created.