Rev. 18:4 Come Out Of Her Lest You Share In Her Plagues ...

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Lady Crosstalk

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As provided in the OP, -- but it's MORE than faith in Jesus. WORKS ARE REQUIRED.

So who is preparing? Are we really going into the cataclysmic future thinking that Jesus will provide for our needs? HE already said that WE need to provide for our own needs (Luke 22:35-36) so who'd be so stupid to think otherwise? And if we're not preparing, then what are we doing, -- playing church?!?

The wise steward takes ardent action (Matt. 11:12). But who among us is wise? I've yet to find them ...
Bobby Jo

Yet, He also says in Matthew 6:25-33--

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air: They do not sow or reap or gather into barns—and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?c

28And why do you worry about clothes? Consider how the lilies of the field grow: They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was adorned like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

31Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For the Gentiles strive after all these things, and your Heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you."
 

Bobby Jo

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Yet, He also says in Matthew 6:25-33-- ...
Hi @Lady Crosstalk,
A few thoughts:

1. Scripture does not contradict Scripture:
Luke 22:35 And he said to them, “When I sent you out with no purse or bag or sandals, did you lack anything?” They said, “Nothing.” 36 He said to them, “But now, let him who has a purse take it, and likewise a bag. And let him who has no sword sell his mantle and buy one.

2. GOD has a PLAN to bless us. We should have a PLAN to bless ourselves. So PLAN.

3. Jesus never worried, so we shouldn't worry.

4. Jesus was always busy pursuing HIS work. So we should be busy pursuing our work.

5. Right now, Christians are not following what Jesus said we should do. They hear from the pulpit that GOD will meet all of our needs. -- That's a LIE.

6. Scripture REQUIRES that we meet our needs ourselves, -- and it should be understood that GOD will guide us as we use our purse to equip our bag (preparations) and protect our lives.

7. GOD wants us to suffer no loss. So anticipate, plan, and pursue what you can so that you don't suffer loss!

8. We have approximately 2 years until we won't be able to buy or sell, and approximately another 6 months until Jesus returns. So you might want to accelerate your WORKS to accompany your FAITH.
Bobby Jo
 
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Lady Crosstalk

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Hi @Lady Crosstalk,
A few thoughts:

1. Scripture does not contradict Scripture:
Luke 22:35 And he said to them, “When I sent you out with no purse or bag or sandals, did you lack anything?” They said, “Nothing.” 36 He said to them, “But now, let him who has a purse take it, and likewise a bag. And let him who has no sword sell his mantle and buy one.
2. GOD has a PLAN to bless us. We should have a PLAN to bless ourselves. So PLAN.

3. Jesus never worried, so we shouldn't worry.

4. Jesus was always busy pursuing HIS work. So we should be busy pursuing our work.

5. Right now, Christians are not following what Jesus said we should do. They hear from the pulpit that GOD will meet all of our needs. -- That's a LIE.

6. Scripture REQUIRES that we meet our needs ourselves, -- and it should be understood that GOD will guide us as we use our purse to equip our bag (preparations) and protect our lives.

7. GOD wants us to suffer no loss. So anticipate, plan, and pursue what you can so that you don't suffer loss!

8. We have approximately 2 years until we won't be able to buy or sell, and approximately another 6 months until Jesus returns. So you might want to accelerate your WORKS to accompany your FAITH.​
Bobby Jo

I agree that Scripture does not contradict itself. You have opened the "Pandora's Box" of "then and now". How do you know that Jesus was not referring to the immediate future of the "baby Church" needing the protection of arms in its infancy so that the gospel could be spread throughout the world? This would have been especially true as the first disciples entered the Gentile areas. I believe the Roman Empire was specifically permitted by God to facilitate the spreading of the gospel into Gentile territory. The Roman Empire emphasized relative peace and order (pax Romana) but the Roman Army couldn't be everywhere at once. So the early evangelists had to more or less protect themselves from lawless brigands on the way to the cities where they proselytized the Gentiles. Self-defense from the predations of criminals is widely recognized as legitimate throughout Scripture.

But what seems to be coming on the whole earth will likely be impossible to resist, as it will be state-sponsored. When the early Church was persecuted by the Roman Empire, few escaped martyrdom. God made sure that those persecutions were brief. Ultimately, the gospel itself halted the official persecutions.

I respect the efforts of Christians who are determined to fight rather than submit to martyrdom, but, for the most part, Church history suggests that, if the Lord does not come in a pre-Tribulation Rapture of the Church, martyrdom will occur to the vast majority of believers. In either case, (Rapture or state-sponsored martyrdom of believers) all the preparations of believers will be for naught. Better to spend the time and money on preaching the gospel (in thought, word and deed) to those who are lost in desperation. We need the Savior now more than ever.
 

Bobby Jo

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... How do you know that Jesus was not referring to the immediate future of the "baby Church" needing the protection of arms in its infancy so that the gospel could be spread throughout the world? ...
... because no other guidance was given to supersede Luke 22:36?

... I respect the efforts of Christians who are determined to fight rather than submit to martyrdom, ...
Fight? Not me. I'm just trying to survive as comfortably as possible. Maybe you're content with starvation, but I'd rather have a bowl of porridge.

... if the Lord does not come in a pre-Tribulation Rapture of the Church, ...
Ummmmm, it's not "if", it's "because".

... Better to spend the time and money on preaching the gospel ...
Perhaps Jesus was mistaken, and you are correct. Or, maybe those that "prepare" can help a few of those who haven't. But we're told what to do, and history is unkind to refugees. Just watch what history records happens particularly to young women, and then place your family members in that situation. -- Not me. And not my family.

Bobby Jo
 
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Bobby Jo

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Leprosy. Yep, -- LEPROSY -- is the latest "plague" identified in Southern California:

New Report Shows Leprosy on the Rise in Los Angeles County
by Jim Hoft August 18, 2019
New Report Shows Leprosy on the Rise in Los Angeles County

...
California is not just a public toilet but now there is evidence that leprosy is on the rise in Los Angeles County.

Barack Obama changed US law in 2016 and allowed immigrants with blistering STDs and leprosy to migrate to the US.

...
Leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease, is rarely seen in the United States, but cases continue to emerge in Los Angeles County, a new report says.
“Hansen’s disease still exists, and we need to educate medical students and physicians,” coauthor Dr. Maria Teresa Ochoa from Keck Medical Center of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, told Reuters Health by email.
...

I wish I still lived in Southern California ...
Bobby Jo
 
B

brakelite

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To All,

Apparently some think that living in a city offers conveniences which outweigh the negatives. Lot thought the same when he picked the lush valley and left the rocky crags to Abraham. But the end result didn't work out quite as Lot had planned, and it won't work out for those who choose to stay in a large city. -- But we all get to choose! :)


Good Luck,
Bobby Jo
While I fully agree that living in any large city is a great risk and parting for the country a definite positive option, even necessary in some cases, especially as we draw closer to the end, the Revelation 18:4 text I believe has a deeper meaning than physically moving house. The plagues in the last days will affect every nation on the planet, and won't be restricted to the cities. And it is specifically Babylon the Great that receives them... And those who refuse to leave her. Babylon the Great is a spiritual entity. A false belief system that is global and uses the government's of the world to enforce man-made doctrines that usurp God's authority over conscience. , But I think you knew that, and you were using the 18:4 text as a metaphorical application regarding natural plagues... Which I think in some contexts not inappropriate.
 
B

brakelite

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To All,

I would propose that the homeless problem contributes to unsanitary conditions which may exacerbate any "plague" risks. However, BIBLE PROPHECY Must Be Fulfilled. So although we may have "solutions" for a given problem, -- if GOD said there would be a circumstance, rest assured that circumstance WILL PREVAIL.

So rather than proposing various "solutions" to a problem, perhaps the BEST ANSWER is to FLEE the Major Cities AS INSTRUCTED.


Or not, -- we each choose,
Bobby Jo
Do you think that the call to "come out of her" is a call that we should share a Christians? That it is our duty to make that recommendation to those still in Babylon in person? So wouldn't that entail our entering into those homeless areas to mingle, share the gospel, and be of whatever assistance we can to encourage them out?
 

Bobby Jo

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... Babylon the Great is a spiritual entity. ...
Mystery Babylon is a physical and societal reality. The creators of the Superman® comics were intelligent enough to recognize the significance, but the "church" is oblivious.

1. The Image of Metals is the "metropolis" model which successive empires have followed, and still follow.
2. Exactly what city did the creators of Superman® call "Metropolis"?
3. Exactly what city did the administration attempt to "REGULATE" the size of dispensed sugary sodas?

And it's not just ONE city, but a MODEL for ALL cities,
Bobby Jo
 

Bobby Jo

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Do you think that the call to "come out of her" is a call that we should share a Christians? That it is our duty to make that recommendation to those still in Babylon in person? So wouldn't that entail our entering into those homeless areas to mingle, share the gospel, and be of whatever assistance we can to encourage them out?

Yep. And if I were you, I'd start in L.A. by incorporating myself with the masses for a couple of years to find out exactly how deprived and depraved these people are. -- After all, that's the example Abraham set for the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and that's what Rev. 18 says to do ...

Bobby Jo