@CoreIssue ...continued
Matthew 25:27 New International Version (NIV)
27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
I don't see any where the church will rule in in eternity. Rule whom?
His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.' - Matthew 25:21
Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! - 1 Corinthians 6:3
and if children, then heirs-heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. - Romans 8:17
Jesus lets us know we will be busy in the New creation. The “rewards” that we are to receive are, in fact, going to be more responsibilities. But, of course, in a world where sin is no more, working for the glory of God will be a joy.
Paul gives us more teases. He tells us we will judge angels. That boggles the mind and I freely confess I don’t truly know what that means. But, as image bearers of God, as randsomed children, we will have a place of authority.
Again, Paul reminds us of this...we are fellow heirs with Christ! Heirs to what? Sitting around strumming a harp? No, what we were tasked with in the garden...ruling over creation, the new Kingdom. Always under God, of course.
The MK has always been part of the Mix.
I repeat. Nothing in revelation after the seventh church verses happened in the first century. Nothing.
And I suppose then I also repeat...unless you can peek into heaven, you can’t really know that, as many of Revelations vision and declarations happen in heaven. And your understanding of the state of the world is confusing. Just what sort of shade of plague, famine, earthquake or persecution were you waiting for before you have it your “Revelation approved” tick?
Which heaven? There will be signs and wonders in the first and second heavens, the sky and outer space. Those things that happen in the third heaven are unmistakably labeled as third heaven.
The first horse is the AC. Has not happened.
But not on this scale of revelation.
I think it’s obvious which heaven I meant, and if you’ve read Revelation it also should be clear. God’s throne room? Angels about the throne singing constantly? Declarations being made?
The first horse doesn’t say who it is. Saying it’s the AC is, once again, a massive leap to assumption town. We’re told the rider is riding a white horse, has a crown and a bow and comes out to conquer. Now...correct me if I’m wrong, but there’s been a lot of people who have done that, and, I suspect, many more who will. One could just as easily say that the horseman is not and actual person, but the personification of mans need to was and conquer each other...constant unrest.
And scale? Sure, I expect it will get worse as we approach the end, but we can actually get that expectation from scripture, unlike some Dispensational notions.
You can only make that argument if you dismiss that it is literal.
It in his literal. Otherwise it completely loses any kind of understandable meaning.
You're doing this a phone? wow!
I've already answered that twice.
“I can only make that argument if I dismiss that it’s literal”.
That’s very astute. Here’s the thing. Revelation IS a symbolic book. You can shake your head at me all you like, but that can’t change the genre of how it was written. I imagine anyone in school demanding a newspaper article was a love poem might have had the same luck.
The first word in Revelation is “apokalupsis” and that indicates, clearly, the apocalyptic nature of the book, as this word (apocalypse, revelation) means “reveal, disclose, bring to light, make fully known). But it then goes further in verse one, by using the word “semaino” (communicate by symbols) and “deichnumi” (show). Put these things together with repeated use of the phrase “I saw” and similar expressions; then to arrive at the conclusion that one must interpret the book “literally” is expressly going against what John and Christ have just told you!
And I’m sorry if you feel that makes it lose all understandable meaning, but you are quite incorrect. It is a glorious book, which makes much sense. In fact, it is soooo much simpler read this way than the Dispensational way.
Those seven churches then we’re not going through Severe persecution.
Ah...excuse me?
Maybe this is one of the reasons you totally don’t get Revelation...your history is dodgy. It can really help to understand what the audience was like, what they were going through, etc.
The Churches in Johns day we’re struggling through intense persecution. They had just endured Nero, and now they were living through Domitian, who continued to persecute Christians terribly. I could write heaps on this, but haven’t the time or space. But sufficient to say...you are most wrong.
I disagree
It is not the last generation. The earth will continue at least another 1000 years.
1000 years after the second coming at the end of the MK.
The only problem is you cannot read literally, but figuratively to find what you want to find.
What possible point could Revelation have for the MK and the people going into it? It’s going to be a time beyond pretty much everything that is described in the book. It’s going to be, according to you, a time with pretty much no sin, very little death with people of God working happily in the presence of Christ. I see little, if any, relevant purpose in Revelation for that time period, apart from the mention that for a time Satan’s influence will be limited.
So, I’m not sure why you keep bringing that up. It’s a small chapter lodged at the back of a large book, full of amazing things. Things you’d like to claim for 1007 years, but in reality, only 7. 7, and then it’s really a “then we’ll see, because we only have vague ideas what this might me like”.
There is a big difference between reading “literally” and “literalistically”.
Ready literally means reading the book as it Was meant to be read. As the author wrote it. In Revelations case, in apocalyptic style. When people read things “literalistically” they discard the original intent of how it was written and bend it to a strict, wooden, ‘real’ interpretation. And, while it may sound super great to say “we read the bible literally”, in actual fact your miles away from where God wanted you. Instead of seeing amazing spiritual truths he’s pointed out to you, you’re holding tight to all these factual things that “have to” happen, missing what’s right in front of your face.
