It's certainly possible for someone to try and make the Lord's return the same as at the scorching of the earth, since anyone can think, read, and promote whatever they want about the Bible. But it's just not possible to do so with Scriptural integrity.
Any objective reader of the Bible cannot possibly do so, since it would become a tangled confusion of plainly contradicting details. That is why people must resort to spiritualizing, symbolizing, or making parables of any prophetic Scripture necessary to do so.
The objective reading is simple:
1. Them of the nations, not all, will gather at Armageddon to fight with the Lord, vs All of God and Magog will be gathered around the beloved city of the saints, and not at Armageddon.
2. The Lord Himself and His armies of saints will be coming down from the air, to fight at Armageddon, vs Fire from God out of heaven will destroy Gog and Magog.
3. The fowls of the air will be gathered from all the earth to eat of the flesh of the dead armies, vs The fire from heaven will scorch Gog and Magog alive.
4. The Jerusalem under the rule of the beast, is spiritually as Sodom and Egypt at the Lord's return, vs the beloved city of the saints is spiritually that of Christ and God.
5. Abraham will be given the land promised to him by God, that he personally walked on. Job also will see His redeemer standing on the earth as prophesied, vs The scorched earth will have no land for Jesus Himself nor anyone to stand upon. much less to give to anyone as a blessing.
6. There will be them of the nations, remaining after the slaying of armies, that the Lord will rule with His saints, vs. The scorched earth will have no one to rule at all.
7. The judgment of the natural sheep and goats on earth, vs the great white throne judgment of all the rest of the resurrected dead, after the earth is scorched and fled away.
The problem with many Christians, is we sometimes want to read Scripture from our own personal faith, rather than read the Bible objectively, and at least understand what the Author is saying first, and then take Him at His word.
No objective reader can possibly mistake the Bible speaking of the return of the Lord to this earth, and this earth being scorched with fire out of heaven.
Doing away with objective reading of the Bible, is also the result of spiritualizing and symbolizing away the objective reading of the words written therein.
Once we begin to symbolize, or make parables of the plain words of Scripture, in order to conform the words to our own faith, then the Bible does indeed become what many scholarly unbelievers have said of it: It is just another interesting and wise book of man about common myths, legends, parables, fables, etc... It becomes simply another book of many wise sayings, principles, and antidotes, much like the Gilgamesh Saga, Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, Aesop's fables, the Egyptian Book of the Dead, Plato's Republic, etc...
Any objective reader of the Bible cannot possibly do so, since it would become a tangled confusion of plainly contradicting details. That is why people must resort to spiritualizing, symbolizing, or making parables of any prophetic Scripture necessary to do so.
The objective reading is simple:
1. Them of the nations, not all, will gather at Armageddon to fight with the Lord, vs All of God and Magog will be gathered around the beloved city of the saints, and not at Armageddon.
2. The Lord Himself and His armies of saints will be coming down from the air, to fight at Armageddon, vs Fire from God out of heaven will destroy Gog and Magog.
3. The fowls of the air will be gathered from all the earth to eat of the flesh of the dead armies, vs The fire from heaven will scorch Gog and Magog alive.
4. The Jerusalem under the rule of the beast, is spiritually as Sodom and Egypt at the Lord's return, vs the beloved city of the saints is spiritually that of Christ and God.
5. Abraham will be given the land promised to him by God, that he personally walked on. Job also will see His redeemer standing on the earth as prophesied, vs The scorched earth will have no land for Jesus Himself nor anyone to stand upon. much less to give to anyone as a blessing.
6. There will be them of the nations, remaining after the slaying of armies, that the Lord will rule with His saints, vs. The scorched earth will have no one to rule at all.
7. The judgment of the natural sheep and goats on earth, vs the great white throne judgment of all the rest of the resurrected dead, after the earth is scorched and fled away.
The problem with many Christians, is we sometimes want to read Scripture from our own personal faith, rather than read the Bible objectively, and at least understand what the Author is saying first, and then take Him at His word.
No objective reader can possibly mistake the Bible speaking of the return of the Lord to this earth, and this earth being scorched with fire out of heaven.
Doing away with objective reading of the Bible, is also the result of spiritualizing and symbolizing away the objective reading of the words written therein.
Once we begin to symbolize, or make parables of the plain words of Scripture, in order to conform the words to our own faith, then the Bible does indeed become what many scholarly unbelievers have said of it: It is just another interesting and wise book of man about common myths, legends, parables, fables, etc... It becomes simply another book of many wise sayings, principles, and antidotes, much like the Gilgamesh Saga, Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, Aesop's fables, the Egyptian Book of the Dead, Plato's Republic, etc...
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