I am not going to be too dogmatic about my thoughts on the subject of this being the end times or not, because maybe it is...God's timing has so far been the complete opposite of what I thought about anything. However, I will be dogmatic about this...those who are looking at the Book of Revelation, the 24th chapter of Matthew and part of Daniel's Prophecy's to somehow marry up with today's headlines and then speculate that you know what's going to happen in the future with regard to God's plans for His return and the future of Israel and the end of the World, you are the epitome of gullible and have spent too much time sitting in a pew listening to 501c3 seeker friendly church pastors and not enough time alone with God and His word.
The main error I see Fundamentalist Evangelical Christians make today with regard to the reading of the above referenced Scriptures is simply they are ignoring the "Time Stamps" given in the actual text's themselves! Read Matthew 24! Read it all the way through! Read the entire chapter...not just the verses the Pastor reads from his pulpit in support of his "guesses" as to what Jesus is talking about! It's obvious from the context that Jesus is talking about the Temple in Jerusalem because that's what His disciples asked Him about. In His answer to His disciples about the timing of the Temples destruction, Jesus said certain events would transpire leading up to its destruction and He lists those first. Jesus is clearly not talking about events that would happen some 2,000 years hence as most lying Evangelical Pastors would have you believe!
I can be dogmatic on this point because of verse 34 of that chapter! In that verse Jesus time stamps all the events when He says..."Verily I say unto you, This generation SHALL NOT PASS, till ALL these things be FULFILLED." Jesus is telling his disciples that all that He discussed in Chapter 24 would be the lead up to the destruction of Jerusalem (and the Temple) and that it would all happen before their generation had passed!
Of course many people have tried to weasel their way out of this verse by coming up with a whole host of crazy ideas and translational trickery, but the fact remains, without any preconceived, dispensational, Scofield goblygook (sp), the verse says what it says! Just a side note, I find it ironic that most Christian Pastors and End Times Prognosticating Authors like Hal Lindsey and Tim Lahaye either don't mention this verse in their prophetically FALSE books or they treat it the exact same way the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society (Jehovah's Witnesses) treat John 1:1. With this verse in John, the JW's have found all manner of trickery to weasel their way around the fact that John is clearly telling us that JESUS IS GOD! The JW's hatchet this verse the same way that MOST Evangelical Pastors hatchet verse 34 of Matthew 24!
The same is true of the ENTIRE Book of Revelation. The entire book is about nothing more than the Destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD. Period! End of story! John tells us it's already happened in the first few verses! Read them yourself! He says, "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants (the severely persecuted 1st Century Church) things which MUST SHORTLY COME TO PASS...and then in verse 3, "Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: FOR THE TIME IS AT HAND." Does this sound like John is telling them information that they will need to give them strength during their persecution if it's going to happen 2,000 years hence? Does someone use the verbiage "Shortly come to pass or Time is at hand" when what he is talking about is going to happen in 2,000 plus years? NO!
If you are a believer in Jesus and His Gospel Message and want dig into some spiritual meat and do a fascinating study, I challenge you to do what today's modern 501c3 fake churches will NEVER tell you to do...do an extra Biblical study of exactly what transpired when Rome destroyed Jerusalem in 70AD. It will definitely be an eye opener and will answer MANY questions you may have about God's plan for the future and His Church today! I suggest reading what Josephus had to say and one of the best books I have ever read on the subject is called The Judgement and Destruction of Jerusalem by Rev. Wm. Patton and George Holford.
The main truth you will discover when doing an extra Biblical study about the destruction of Jerusalem is that everything Jesus said would happen in Matthew 24 and the Book of Revelation...well...it actually happened! Every detail! God is amazing and He is definitely in control! So sorry this is so long!
I am not going to be too dogmatic about my thoughts on the subject of this being the end times or not, because maybe it is...God's timing has so far been the complete opposite of what I thought about anything. However, I will be dogmatic about this...those who are looking at the Book of Revelation, the 24th chapter of Matthew and part of Daniel's Prophecy's to somehow marry up with today's headlines and then speculate that you know what's going to happen in the future with regard to God's plans for His return and the future of Israel and the end of the World, you are the epitome of gullible and have spent too much time sitting in a pew listening to 501c3 seeker friendly church pastors and not enough time alone with God and His word.
The main error I see Fundamentalist Evangelical Christians make today with regard to the reading of the above referenced Scriptures is simply they are ignoring the "Time Stamps" given in the actual text's themselves! Read Matthew 24! Read it all the way through! Read the entire chapter...not just the verses the Pastor reads from his pulpit in support of his "guesses" as to what Jesus is talking about! It's obvious from the context that Jesus is talking about the Temple in Jerusalem because that's what His disciples asked Him about. In His answer to His disciples about the timing of the Temples destruction, Jesus said certain events would transpire leading up to its destruction and He lists those first. Jesus is clearly not talking about events that would happen some 2,000 years hence as most lying Evangelical Pastors would have you believe!
I can be dogmatic on this point because of verse 34 of that chapter! In that verse Jesus time stamps all the events when He says..."Verily I say unto you, This generation SHALL NOT PASS, till ALL these things be FULFILLED." Jesus is telling his disciples that all that He discussed in Chapter 24 would be the lead up to the destruction of Jerusalem (and the Temple) and that it would all happen before their generation had passed!
Of course many people have tried to weasel their way out of this verse by coming up with a whole host of crazy ideas and translational trickery, but the fact remains, without any preconceived, dispensational, Scofield goblygook (sp), the verse says what it says! Just a side note, I find it ironic that most Christian Pastors and End Times Prognosticating Authors like Hal Lindsey and Tim Lahaye either don't mention this verse in their prophetically FALSE books or they treat it the exact same way the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society (Jehovah's Witnesses) treat John 1:1. With this verse in John, the JW's have found all manner of trickery to weasel their way around the fact that John is clearly telling us that JESUS IS GOD! The JW's hatchet this verse the same way that MOST Evangelical Pastors hatchet verse 34 of Matthew 24!
The same it true of the ENTIRE Book of Revelation. The entire book is about nothing more than the Destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD. Period! End of story! John tells us it's already happened in the first few verses! Read them yourself! He says, "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants (the severely persecuted 1st Century Church) things which MUST SHORTLY COME TO PASS...and then in verse 3, "Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: FOR THE TIME IS AT HAND."
If you are a believer in Jesus and His Gospel Message and want dig into some spiritual meat and do a fascinating study, I challenge you to do what today's modern 501c3 fake churches will NEVER tell you to do...do an extra Biblical study of exactly what transpired when Rome destroyed Jerusalem in 70AD. It will definitely be an eye opener and will answer MANY questions you may have about God's plan for the future and His Church today! I suggest reading what Josephus had to say and one of the best books I have ever read on the subject is called The Judgement and Destruction of Jerusalem by Rev. Wm. Patton and George Holford.
The main truth you will discover when doing an extra Biblical study about the destruction of Jerusalem is that everything Jesus said would happen in Matthew 24 and the Book of Revelation...well...it actually happened! Every detail! God is amazing and He is definitely in control! So sorry this is so long!