Part 3: End of Days, The Rapture of the Church and The Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
Dear Friends,
Welcome to part 3 of this Blog. This is going to be a lengthy segment.
What do we mean by End of Days?
Well according to some Scholars they see it as when the earth is destroyed completely.
In a devastating world ending calamity like an astroid colliding with earth.
We see movies like Armageddon, 2012, etc. Hollywood has made movies like World war Z, War of the Worlds, Independence day etc.
However, that is not what the Ancient Prophets declare. God Himself has a plan for everyone's future. The End of Days refer to the End of the Age of Dispensation of Grace.
It refers to God's Judgement on the earth to punish the wicked and corrupt.
For easy reference and time saving I have copied the Charts of the Ancient Prophets both The Old and New Testaments.
Please Note: Matthew 24 is spoken by Jesus Christ. What is not included however is the secret of the verse Matthew 24; 38-39 which I included in Part 2. Which speaks of all the deeds that Men did in the Pre-flood Era. I also listed some of the misdeeds and actions that caused God's Judgement to come in the form of a flood on the earth.
I also posted some examples that are taking place on earth.
Please note: Jesus gives another example to follow which occurred Post Flood in Luke 28 and 29:
28: " Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: they ate, drank,they bought,they sold,they planted, they built;
29." but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all."
Verse 30. " Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed"
Please note: Jesus refers to Himself as The Son of Man....A term that we already discussed that Enoch had used. So Jesus was familiar with the Book of Enoch. Enoch actually meets Jesus and sees the future of all mankind and His Coming Reign on Earth.
To Note: Just as in the days of Noah had been explained, we need to look at what happened in the days of Lot.
Herewith I post the article from Wikipedia:
see Sodom and Gomorrah (disambiguation).
Sodom and Gomorrah being destroyed in the background of Lucas van Leyden's 1520 painting "Lot and his Daughters"
Sodom and Gomorrah (/ˈsɒd.əm/;[1] /ɡə.ˈmɔr.ə/[2]) were cities mentioned in the Book of Genesis and throughout the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and in deuterocanonical sources, as well as the Qur'an. Whether or not they ever existed is disputed by archaeologists.
According to the Torah, the kingdoms of Sodom and Gomorrah were allied with the cities of Admah, Zeboim and Bela. These five cities, also known as the "cities of the plain", were situated on the Jordan River plain in the southern region of the land of Canaan. The plain, which corresponds to the area just north of the modern-day Dead Sea,[3] was compared to the garden of Eden[Gen.13:10] as being a land well-watered and green, suitable for grazing livestock.
Divine judgment by God was then passed upon Sodom and Gomorrah and two neighboring cities, which were completely consumed by fire and brimstone. Neighboring Zoar (Bela) was the only city to be spared. In Abrahamic religions, Sodom and Gomorrah have become synonymous with impenitent sin, and their fall with a proverbial manifestation of divine retribution.[4][5][Jude 1:7] Sodom and Gomorrah have been used as metaphors for vice and homosexuality viewed as a deviation. The story has therefore given rise to words in several languages, including the English word sodomy, used in sodomy laws to describe a sexual "crime against nature" consisting of anal or oral sex, either homosexual or heterosexual, or sexual activity between a person and a non-human animal (bestiality).[6] Some Islamic societies incorporate punishments associated with Sodom and Gomorrah into sharia law.[7]
Painting from William Francis Lynch book The Narrative of the United States Expedition of the River Jordan and the Dead Sea. Published in 1849
The historicity of Sodom and Gomorrah is still in dispute by archaeologists, as little archaeological evidence has ever been found in the regions where they were supposedly situated. There are some other stories and historical names which bear a resemblance to the Biblical stories of Sodom and Gomorrah, and some possible natural explanations for the events described have been proposed, but no widely accepted or strongly verified sites for the cities have been found.
Strabo states that locals living near Moasada (as opposed to Masada) say that "there were once thirteen inhabited cities in that region of which Sodom was the metropolis". Strabo identifies a limestone and salt hill at the south western tip of the Dead Sea, and Kharbet Usdum ruins nearby as the site of biblical Sodom.[9]
Archibald Sayce translated an Akkadian poem describing cities that were destroyed in a rain of fire, written from the view of a person who escaped the destruction; the names of the cities are not given.[10] However, Sayce later mentions that the story more closely resembles the doom of Sennacherib's host.[11]
In 1976 Giovanni Pettinato claimed that a cuneiform tablet that had been found in the newly discovered library at Ebla contained the names of all five of the cities of the plain (Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboim, and Bela), listed in the same order as in Genesis. The names si-da-mu [TM.76.G.524] and ì-ma-ar [TM.75.G.1570 and TM.75.G.2233] were identified as representing Sodom and Gomorrah, which gained some acceptance at the time.[12] However, Alfonso Archi states that, judging from the surrounding city names in the cuneiform list, si-da-mu lies in northern Syria and not near the Dead Sea, and ì-ma-ar is a variant of ì-mar, known to represent Emar, an ancient city located near Ebla.[13] William Shea points out in 1983 that on the 'Eblaite Geographical Atlas' [TM.75.G.2231], ad-mu-ut and sa-dam are good readings by Pettinato and correspond to Admah and Sodom, and they are contained in a list of cities that traces a route along the shores of, or quite possibly within the Dead Sea, whose position may have since shifted along its fault.[14] Today, the scientific consensus is reported as being that "Ebla has no bearing on ... Sodom and Gomorra."[15]
If the cities actually existed, they might have been destroyed as the result of a natural disaster. Geologists believe that no volcanic activity occurred within 4,000 years.[citation needed] Others claim that the Dead Sea was devastated by an earthquake between 2100 and 1900 BC, which could have unleashed showers of steaming tar.[16] It is possible that the towns were destroyed by an earthquake in the region, especially if the towns lay along a major fault, the Jordan Rift Valley. However, there is a lack of contemporary accounts of seismic activity within the necessary timeframe to corroborate this theory.[17]
Possible candidates for Sodom or Gomorrah are the sites discovered or visited by Walter E. Rast and R. Thomas Schaub in 1973, including Bab edh-Dhra, which was originally excavated in 1965 by archaeologist Paul Lapp, only to have his work continued by Rast and Schaub following his death by accidental drowning in the waters off of Cyprus in 1970. Other possibilities also include Numeira, es-Safi, Feifeh and Khanazir, which were also visited by Schaub and Rast. All sites were located near the Dead Sea, with evidence of burning and traces of sulfur.[18][19] However, according to Schaub, who dug at Bab edh-Dhra, Numeira was destroyed (2600 BC) at a different time period from Bab edh-Dhra (2350–2067 BC).[20] Archaeological remains excavated from Bab edh-Dhra are currently displayed in Karak Archaeological Museum (Karak Castle), Amman Citadel Museum, and the British Museum.
Another possible candidate for Sodom is the Tall el-Hammam dig site which began in 2006 under the direction of Steven Collins. Tall el-Hammam is located in the southern Jordan river valley approximately 14 kilometers Northeast of the Dead Sea, and seemingly fitting the Bible descriptions of the lands of Sodom.[21] The ongoing dig is a result of joint cooperation between Trinity Southwest University and the Department of Antiquities of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.[22] The site is 36 hectares, while the footprint size of general settlement extends beyond this—well over 40 hectares. This size puts Tall el-Hammam as one of the largest Middle Bronze Age sites that has been discovered in Jordan. Analysis of the findings indicates that the site was occupied from the Chalcolithic period on up to the Iron Age (however there may likely be period gaps as well (i.e., Late Bronze Period is missing), along with evidences of glazed artifacts—such as pottery and rocks, and destruction).[23] The researchers claim to have discovered an ash layer containing human bone fragments, which they believe indicates a cataclysmic and sudden end to the civilization in this area. Recently, desert glass had been found among the glazed pottery shards. Desert glass requires extremely high temperatures to fuse sand into glass. These temperatures are not found from oil fires, gas fires, or siege fires. It is also evident that the area was not occupied for several centuries afterward. In addition there is evidence of Hellenistic, Eastern Roman, and Byzantine occupation[24] on the site.[25][26] Professor Eugene H. Merrill believes that the identification of Tall el-Hamman with Sodom would require an unacceptable restructuring of the biblical chronology.[27][28][29]
The Jewish historian Josephus identifies the Dead Sea in geographic proximity to the ancient biblical city of Sodom. However, he refers to the lake by its Greek name, Asphaltites.[30]
In the thirteenth year of subjection to Elam, the five kings of the river Jordan plain aligned together to rebel against Elamite rule.[v.4] These kings included those of Sodom and Gomorrah as well as their neighbors: king Shinab of Admah, king Shemeber of Zeboiim, and the unnamed king of Bela (later called Zoar).[v.2]
In response, Elam's king Chedorlaomer, gathered additional forces from Shinar, Ellasar and Goyim to suppress this rebellion from the cities of the plain.[v.1,2] They waged war in the Vale of Siddim[v.3,8] in the fourteenth year. The battle was brutal with heavy losses in the cities of the plain, with their resultant defeat.[v.10] Sodom and Gomorrah were spoiled of their goods, and captives were taken, including Lot.[v.11,12]
The tide of war turned when Lot's uncle Abram gathered an elite force that slaughtered king Chedorlaomer's forces in Hobah, north of Damascus.[v.14-17] The success of his mission freed the cities of the plain from under Elam's rule.[v.18-20]
In response, Abraham inquired of the LORD if he would spare the city if 50 righteous people were found in it, to which the LORD agreed he would not destroy it for the sake of the righteous yet dwelling therein. Abraham then inquired of God for mercy at lower numbers (first 45, then 40, then 30, then 20, and finally at 10), with the LORD agreeing each time.[Gen 18:22-33][33] Two angels were sent to Sodom to investigate and were met by Abraham's nephew Lot, who convinced the angels to lodge with him, and they ate with Lot.
Genesis 19:4-5 (KJV) described what followed, which confirmed its end:
The Sodom and Gomorrah motif from the Nuremberg Chronicle by Hartmann Schedel, 1493. Note Lot's wife, already transformed into a salt pillar, in the center.
Lot refused to give his guests to the inhabitants of Sodom and, instead, offered them his two virgin daughters "which have not known man" and to "do ye to them as [is] good in your eyes".[Gen 19:8] However, they refused this offer, complained about this alien, namely Lot, giving orders, and then came near to break down the door. Lot's angelic guests rescued him and struck the men with blindness and they informed Lot of their mission to destroy the city.[Genesis 19:9-13]
Then (not having found even 10 righteous people in the city), they commanded Lot to gather his family and leave. As they made their escape, one angel commanded Lot to "look not behind thee" (singular "thee").[Genesis 19:17] However, as Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed with brimstone and fire from the LORD, Lot's wife looked back at the city, and she became a pillar of salt.[Genesis 19:23-26]
A rabbinic tradition, described in the Mishnah, postulates that the sin of Sodom was related to property: Sodomites believed that "what is mine is mine, and what is yours is yours" (Abot), which is interpreted as a lack of compassion. Another rabbinic tradition is that these two wealthy cities treated visitors in a sadistic fashion. One major crime done to strangers was almost identical to that of Procrustes in Greek mythology. This would be the story of the "bed" that guests to Sodom were forced to sleep in: if they were too short they were stretched to fit it, and if they were too tall, they were cut up (indeed, in Hebrew and Yiddish, the corresponding term for a Procrustean bed is a "Sodom bed").
In another incident, Eliezer, Abraham's servant, went to visit Lot in Sodom and got in a dispute with a Sodomite over a beggar, and was hit in the forehead with a stone, making him bleed. The Sodomite demanded Eliezer pay him for the service of bloodletting, and a Sodomite judge sided with the Sodomite. Eliezer then struck the judge in the forehead with a stone and asked the judge to pay the Sodomite.
The Talmud and the Sefer haYashar (midrash) also recount two incidents of a young girl (one involved Lot's daughter Paltith) who gave some bread to a poor man who had entered the city. When the townspeople discovered their acts of kindness, they burned Paltith and smeared the other girl's body with honey and hung her from the city wall until she was eaten by bees. (Sanhedrin 109a.) It is this gruesome event, and her scream in particular, the Talmud concludes, that are alluded to in the verse that heralds the city's destruction: "So[36] said, 'Because the outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah has become great, and because their sin has been very grave, I will descend and see...'"[Gen 18:20-21]
A modern orthodox position is one that holds, "The paradigmatic instance of such aberrant behavior is found in the demand of the men of Sodom to 'know' the men visiting Lot, the nephew of Abraham, thus lending their name to the practice of 'sodomy'."[37]
The scholar and activist Jay Michaelson proposes a reading of the story of Sodom that emphasizes the violation of hospitality as well as the violence of the Sodomites. "Homosexual rape is the way in which they violate hospitality—not the essence of their transgression. Reading the story of Sodom as being about homosexuality is like reading the story of an ax murderer as being about an ax."[38] Michaelson places the story of Sodom in context with other Genesis stories regarding Abraham's hospitality to strangers, and argues that when other texts in the Hebrew Bible mention Sodom, they do so without commentary on homosexuality. The verses cited by Michaelson include Jeremiah 23:14,[Jeremiah 23:14] where the sins of Jerusalem are compared to Sodom and are listed as adultery, lying, and strengthening the hands of evildoers; Amos 4:1-11 (oppressing the poor and crushing the needy);[Amos 4:1-11] and Ezekiel 16:49-50,[Ezekiel 16:49-50] which defines the sins of Sodom as "pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty, and did toevah before me, and I took them away as I saw fit." Michaelson uses toevah in place of abomination to emphasize the original Hebrew, which he explains as being more correctly translated as "taboo".[39]
The first contention between the two positions primarily focuses upon the meaning of the Hebrew verb ידע (yada), translated as know in the King James Version:
Those who favor the non-sexual interpretation argue against a denotation of sexual behavior in this context, noting that while the Hebrew word for know appears over 900 times in the Hebrew Scriptures, only approximately 1% (13-14 times)[34][44] of those references is it clearly used as a euphemism for realizing sexual intimacy.[45] Instead, those who hold to this interpretation usually see the demand to know as demanding the right to interrogate the strangers.[46]
Countering this is the observation that one of the examples of know meaning to know sexually occurs when Lot responds to the Gen 19:5 request, only three verses later in the same narrative:
Many who interpret the stories in a non-sexual context contend that as the word for "strange" is akin to "another", "other", "altered" or even "next", the meaning is unclear, and if the condemnation of Sodom was the result of sexual activities perceived to be perverse, then it is likely that it was because women sought to commit fornication with "other than human" angels,[48] perhaps referring to Genesis 6 or the apocryphal Book of Enoch. Countering this, it is pointed out that Genesis 6 refers to angels seeking women, not men seeking angels, and that both Sodom and Gomorrah were engaged in the sin Jude describes before the angelic visitation, and that, regardless, it is doubtful that the Sodomites knew they were angels. In addition, it is argued the word used in the King James Version of the Bible for "strange", can mean unlawful or corrupted (Rm. 7:3; Gal. 1:6), and that the apocryphal Second Book of Enoch (different from the one Jude quotes from) condemns "sodomitic" sex (Enoch 10:3; 34:1),[49] thus indicating that homosexual relations was the prevalent physical sin of Sodom.[50]
Both the non-sexual and the homosexuality view invoke certain classical writings as well as other portions of the Bible.[51][52]
In the Gospel of Matthew (and corresponding verse) when Jesus warns of a worse judgment for some cities than Sodom, inhospitality is perceived by some as the sin, while others see it fundamentally being impenitence:
Within the Christian Churches that agree on the possible sexual interpretation of know (yada) in this context, there is still a difference of opinion on whether homosexuality is important. The Anglican Communion, on its website, presents the argument that the story is "not even vaguely about homosexual love or relationships", but instead "about dominance and rape, by definition an act of violence, not of sex or love." This argument that the violence and threat of violence to foreign visitors is the true ethical downfall of Sodom (and not homosexuality), also observes the similarity between the Sodom and Gomorrah and the Battle of Gibeah Bible stories. In both stories, an inhospitable mob demands the homosexual rape of a foreigner or foreigners. As the mob instead settles for the rape and murder of the foreigner’s female concubine in the Battle of Gibeah story, the homosexual aspect is generally seen as inconsequential, and the ethical downfall is understood to be the violence and threat of violence to foreigners by the mob. This Exodus 22:21-24 lesson is viewed as a more historically accurate way to interpret the Sodom and Gomorrah story.[40][56]
The 'people of Lot' transgressed consciously against the bounds of God. Their avarice led to inhospitality and robbery, which in turn led to the humiliation of strangers by mistreatment and rape. It was their abominable sin of homosexual sex which was seen as symptomatic of their attitudes,[59][60] and upon Lot's exhorting them to abandon their transgression against God, they ridiculed him,[61] and threatened him with dire consequences;[60][62][63] Lot only prayed to God to be saved from doing as they did. Then Gabriel met Lot and said that he must leave the city quickly, as God had given this command to Lot for saving his life. In the Quran it was written that Lot's wife stayed behind as she had transgressed. She met her fate in the disaster, and that only Lot and his family were saved during the destruction of their city,[64] with the understanding that the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are identified in Genesis, but "the location remains unnamed in the Qur'an"[65]
In the Quran, surah (chapter) 26 Ash-Shu`arā' (The Poets) –
Jeremiah 23:14, Jeremiah 49:17-18, Jeremiah 50:39-40 and Lamentations 4:6 associate Sodom and Gomorrah with adultery and lies, prophesies the fate of Edom, south of the Dead Sea, prophesies the fate of Babylon and uses Sodom as a comparison.
In Ezekiel 16:48-50 God compares Jerusalem to Sodom, saying "Sodom never did what you and your daughters have done." He explains that the sin of Sodom was that "She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me."
In Zephaniah 2:9 the prophet tells Moab and Ammon, southeast and northeast of the Dead Sea, that they will end up like Sodom and Gomorrah.
In 2Peter 2:4-10 Peter uses the time of Sodom and Lot in his description of the time of the second coming of Jesus.
Jude 1:7 records that both Sodom and Gomorrah were "giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire."
Revelation 11:7-8 makes an allegorical use of Sodom when it describes the places where two prophets will descend during the Apocalypse.
Sodom was one of a group of five towns, the Pentapolis (Wisdom 10:6): Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboim and Bela—also called Zoar.[Gen 19:22] The Pentapolis region is also collectively referred to as "the cities of the plain".[13:12]
As we can see the Major Sin God Judged was Idolatry and Homosexuallity. The Other sins included being haughty and unconcerned of other people and not feeding the hungry. Doing detestable things before the Lord.
In the End of Days this will emerge and grow. Which we are all witnesses to this and have to conform and be politically correct about it unless we be termed as Gay bashers or intolerant. We have to make our children understand that being Gay is normal and have to accept it although God has pronounced that it is a Major Sin!
This is another sign fulfilled.
Another Piece of the puzzle.
So, The days of Noah and the Days of Lot have already taken Place.
The Prophecies have been fulfilled to the exact decimal point.
Gay Marriages, Lesbian Marriages, Hybrid human and Animal genetic Mutalations, all happening and show no signs of receeding.
The truth is in the following article:
Related Media
Dear Friends,
Welcome to part 3 of this Blog. This is going to be a lengthy segment.
What do we mean by End of Days?
Well according to some Scholars they see it as when the earth is destroyed completely.
In a devastating world ending calamity like an astroid colliding with earth.
We see movies like Armageddon, 2012, etc. Hollywood has made movies like World war Z, War of the Worlds, Independence day etc.
However, that is not what the Ancient Prophets declare. God Himself has a plan for everyone's future. The End of Days refer to the End of the Age of Dispensation of Grace.
It refers to God's Judgement on the earth to punish the wicked and corrupt.
For easy reference and time saving I have copied the Charts of the Ancient Prophets both The Old and New Testaments.
Old Testament End-times Prophecy Chart
| Isaiah | Ezekiel | Daniel | Joel | Amos | Zechariah | Malachi | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Confusion in Last Battle | 38:21 | 12:4 14:13 | |||||
| 7 Years or 3.5 Years | 7:25; 9:27 12:7 | ||||||
| Corpses | 34:3 | 39:11-20 | 2:20 | ||||
| Men Killed By Fire | 13:8,12
24:6 33:14; 34:9 51:6 65:15,16 |
38:22 39:6 | 14:12 | 4:1 | |||
| Hailstones | 38:22 | ||||||
| Earthquakes | 24:18-20 | 38:19,20 | 2:10? 3:16 | 9:5 | 14:4 | ||
| Regathering of Israel | 37:all | ||||||
| All Nations Gathered to War | 13:4 66:18 | 12:1-4 14:2 | |||||
| Jewish Revival | 37:9-14 | 12:10-14 13:1-9 | |||||
| Abomination of Desolation | 9:27 12:11 | ||||||
| Second Advent | 39:21 | 2:44 7:13,14 | 14:4 | 2:1-3 | |||
| The Beast, or Antichrist | 14:12-15 | 7:8,24
8:19,26 9:26,27 11:36ff. |
11:15-17 | ||||
| 10 Nations | 2:42,44 7:24 | ||||||
| Kings of East | 11:44 | ||||||
| Kings of South | 38:5 | 11:40 | |||||
| Kings of North | 38:15ff. 39:2 | 11:40 | 2:20 | ||||
| Signs in Sky | 13:10 24:23 | 2:10,30 3:15 | 14:6,7 | ||||
| Remnant Saved | 2:12,17 3:32 | 9:8 | 13:8,9 14:2,5 |
New Testament End-times Prophecy Chart
| Matthew | Luke | 1 Cor. | 2 Cor. | 1 Thess. | 2 Thess. | Revelation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Persecution | 24:9 | 6:9; 13:7-10; 14:13; 17:6,14; 18:24 | |||||
| Rapture | 15:50-53 | 4:13-18 | 2:1 | ||||
| BEMA Judgment | 3:10-15 9:27 | 5:10 | 2:19,20 | ||||
| Kings of the East | 9:13-19; 17:12ff. | ||||||
| The Beast, or Antichrist | 2:3-12 | 13:1-18; 17:7-18; 19:19,20 | |||||
| Abomination of Desolation | 24:15 | 2:4 | 13:15 | ||||
| Jewish Revival | 7:4-8; 14:1-5 | ||||||
| Regathering of Israel | 21:24 | ||||||
| All Nations Gathered | 14:20; 16:16; 19:19 | ||||||
| Earthquake | 6:12; 11:19; 16:21 | ||||||
| Hailstones | 8:7; 11:19; 16:18 | ||||||
| People Destroyed By Fire | 8:7-11; 16:8,9; 18:8 | ||||||
| Corpses | 14:20; 19:17,18 | ||||||
| 7 Years or 3.5 Years | 11:2,3; 12:6,14; 13:5 | ||||||
| Famine | 24:7 | 21:11 | 6:5-8; 18:8 | ||||
| Pestilence | 21:11 | 6:6-8; 16:1-11; 18:8 | |||||
| Signs in the Sky | 24:29 | 21:11,25 | 6:12,13; 8:12 | ||||
| Second Advent | 24:27 | 17:24; 21:27 | 19:11-18 | ||||
| Apostasy | 24:10,23-26 | 17:1-18; 18:2? | |||||
| Remnant Saved | 24:16,20 | 17:31 | 7:4-8; 12:6,13,14; 14:1-5 |
Please Note: Matthew 24 is spoken by Jesus Christ. What is not included however is the secret of the verse Matthew 24; 38-39 which I included in Part 2. Which speaks of all the deeds that Men did in the Pre-flood Era. I also listed some of the misdeeds and actions that caused God's Judgement to come in the form of a flood on the earth.
I also posted some examples that are taking place on earth.
Please note: Jesus gives another example to follow which occurred Post Flood in Luke 28 and 29:
28: " Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: they ate, drank,they bought,they sold,they planted, they built;
29." but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all."
Verse 30. " Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed"
Please note: Jesus refers to Himself as The Son of Man....A term that we already discussed that Enoch had used. So Jesus was familiar with the Book of Enoch. Enoch actually meets Jesus and sees the future of all mankind and His Coming Reign on Earth.
To Note: Just as in the days of Noah had been explained, we need to look at what happened in the days of Lot.
Herewith I post the article from Wikipedia:
see Sodom and Gomorrah (disambiguation).
According to the Torah, the kingdoms of Sodom and Gomorrah were allied with the cities of Admah, Zeboim and Bela. These five cities, also known as the "cities of the plain", were situated on the Jordan River plain in the southern region of the land of Canaan. The plain, which corresponds to the area just north of the modern-day Dead Sea,[3] was compared to the garden of Eden[Gen.13:10] as being a land well-watered and green, suitable for grazing livestock.
Divine judgment by God was then passed upon Sodom and Gomorrah and two neighboring cities, which were completely consumed by fire and brimstone. Neighboring Zoar (Bela) was the only city to be spared. In Abrahamic religions, Sodom and Gomorrah have become synonymous with impenitent sin, and their fall with a proverbial manifestation of divine retribution.[4][5][Jude 1:7] Sodom and Gomorrah have been used as metaphors for vice and homosexuality viewed as a deviation. The story has therefore given rise to words in several languages, including the English word sodomy, used in sodomy laws to describe a sexual "crime against nature" consisting of anal or oral sex, either homosexual or heterosexual, or sexual activity between a person and a non-human animal (bestiality).[6] Some Islamic societies incorporate punishments associated with Sodom and Gomorrah into sharia law.[7]
Contents
[hide]Etymology[edit]
The name Sodom is derived from Hebrew: סְדוֹם, Modern Sədom Tiberian Səḏôm, and Greek Σόδομα Sódoma. The name Gomorrah is derived from Hebrew: עֲמוֹרָה, Modern ʿAmora Tiberian Ġəmôrāh/ʿĂmôrāh, and Greek Γόμοῤῥα / Gómorrha. The exact original meanings of the names are uncertain. The name Sodom could be a word from an early Semitic language ultimately related to the Arabic sadama, meaning "fasten", "fortify", "strengthen", and Gomorrah could be based on the root gh m r, which means "be deep", "copious (water)".[8]Historicity[edit]
Strabo states that locals living near Moasada (as opposed to Masada) say that "there were once thirteen inhabited cities in that region of which Sodom was the metropolis". Strabo identifies a limestone and salt hill at the south western tip of the Dead Sea, and Kharbet Usdum ruins nearby as the site of biblical Sodom.[9]
Archibald Sayce translated an Akkadian poem describing cities that were destroyed in a rain of fire, written from the view of a person who escaped the destruction; the names of the cities are not given.[10] However, Sayce later mentions that the story more closely resembles the doom of Sennacherib's host.[11]
In 1976 Giovanni Pettinato claimed that a cuneiform tablet that had been found in the newly discovered library at Ebla contained the names of all five of the cities of the plain (Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboim, and Bela), listed in the same order as in Genesis. The names si-da-mu [TM.76.G.524] and ì-ma-ar [TM.75.G.1570 and TM.75.G.2233] were identified as representing Sodom and Gomorrah, which gained some acceptance at the time.[12] However, Alfonso Archi states that, judging from the surrounding city names in the cuneiform list, si-da-mu lies in northern Syria and not near the Dead Sea, and ì-ma-ar is a variant of ì-mar, known to represent Emar, an ancient city located near Ebla.[13] William Shea points out in 1983 that on the 'Eblaite Geographical Atlas' [TM.75.G.2231], ad-mu-ut and sa-dam are good readings by Pettinato and correspond to Admah and Sodom, and they are contained in a list of cities that traces a route along the shores of, or quite possibly within the Dead Sea, whose position may have since shifted along its fault.[14] Today, the scientific consensus is reported as being that "Ebla has no bearing on ... Sodom and Gomorra."[15]
If the cities actually existed, they might have been destroyed as the result of a natural disaster. Geologists believe that no volcanic activity occurred within 4,000 years.[citation needed] Others claim that the Dead Sea was devastated by an earthquake between 2100 and 1900 BC, which could have unleashed showers of steaming tar.[16] It is possible that the towns were destroyed by an earthquake in the region, especially if the towns lay along a major fault, the Jordan Rift Valley. However, there is a lack of contemporary accounts of seismic activity within the necessary timeframe to corroborate this theory.[17]
Possible candidates for Sodom or Gomorrah are the sites discovered or visited by Walter E. Rast and R. Thomas Schaub in 1973, including Bab edh-Dhra, which was originally excavated in 1965 by archaeologist Paul Lapp, only to have his work continued by Rast and Schaub following his death by accidental drowning in the waters off of Cyprus in 1970. Other possibilities also include Numeira, es-Safi, Feifeh and Khanazir, which were also visited by Schaub and Rast. All sites were located near the Dead Sea, with evidence of burning and traces of sulfur.[18][19] However, according to Schaub, who dug at Bab edh-Dhra, Numeira was destroyed (2600 BC) at a different time period from Bab edh-Dhra (2350–2067 BC).[20] Archaeological remains excavated from Bab edh-Dhra are currently displayed in Karak Archaeological Museum (Karak Castle), Amman Citadel Museum, and the British Museum.
Another possible candidate for Sodom is the Tall el-Hammam dig site which began in 2006 under the direction of Steven Collins. Tall el-Hammam is located in the southern Jordan river valley approximately 14 kilometers Northeast of the Dead Sea, and seemingly fitting the Bible descriptions of the lands of Sodom.[21] The ongoing dig is a result of joint cooperation between Trinity Southwest University and the Department of Antiquities of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.[22] The site is 36 hectares, while the footprint size of general settlement extends beyond this—well over 40 hectares. This size puts Tall el-Hammam as one of the largest Middle Bronze Age sites that has been discovered in Jordan. Analysis of the findings indicates that the site was occupied from the Chalcolithic period on up to the Iron Age (however there may likely be period gaps as well (i.e., Late Bronze Period is missing), along with evidences of glazed artifacts—such as pottery and rocks, and destruction).[23] The researchers claim to have discovered an ash layer containing human bone fragments, which they believe indicates a cataclysmic and sudden end to the civilization in this area. Recently, desert glass had been found among the glazed pottery shards. Desert glass requires extremely high temperatures to fuse sand into glass. These temperatures are not found from oil fires, gas fires, or siege fires. It is also evident that the area was not occupied for several centuries afterward. In addition there is evidence of Hellenistic, Eastern Roman, and Byzantine occupation[24] on the site.[25][26] Professor Eugene H. Merrill believes that the identification of Tall el-Hamman with Sodom would require an unacceptable restructuring of the biblical chronology.[27][28][29]
The Jewish historian Josephus identifies the Dead Sea in geographic proximity to the ancient biblical city of Sodom. However, he refers to the lake by its Greek name, Asphaltites.[30]
Biblical narratives[edit]
The Book of Genesis is the primary source that mentions the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Major and minor prophets in the Hebrew Bible have also referred to Sodom and Gomorrah to parallel their prophetic events. The New Testament also contains passages of parallels to the destruction and surrounding events that pertained to these cities and those who were involved. Later deuterocanonical texts attempt to glean additional insights about these cities of the Jordan Plain.Battle of Siddim[edit]
See also: Battle of Siddim
In Genesis Chapter 14, Sodom and Gomorrah's political situation is described during the time biblical Lot had encamped in Sodom's territory.[31] Genesis 13:13 indicates that at that time, "the men of Sodom [were] wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly." Sodom was ruled by king Bera while Gomorrah was ruled by king Birsha. Their kingship, however, was not sovereign, because all of the river Jordan plain was under Elamite rule for twelve years. The kingdom of Elam was ruled by king Chedorlaomer.[Genesis 14:1-4]In the thirteenth year of subjection to Elam, the five kings of the river Jordan plain aligned together to rebel against Elamite rule.[v.4] These kings included those of Sodom and Gomorrah as well as their neighbors: king Shinab of Admah, king Shemeber of Zeboiim, and the unnamed king of Bela (later called Zoar).[v.2]
In response, Elam's king Chedorlaomer, gathered additional forces from Shinar, Ellasar and Goyim to suppress this rebellion from the cities of the plain.[v.1,2] They waged war in the Vale of Siddim[v.3,8] in the fourteenth year. The battle was brutal with heavy losses in the cities of the plain, with their resultant defeat.[v.10] Sodom and Gomorrah were spoiled of their goods, and captives were taken, including Lot.[v.11,12]
The tide of war turned when Lot's uncle Abram gathered an elite force that slaughtered king Chedorlaomer's forces in Hobah, north of Damascus.[v.14-17] The success of his mission freed the cities of the plain from under Elam's rule.[v.18-20]
Judgement[edit]
In Genesis 18 three men, thought by most commentators to have been angels appearing as men,[32] came to Abram (Abraham) in the plains of Mamre. After the angels received the hospitality of Abraham and Sarah, his wife, the LORD revealed to Abraham that he would destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, because their cry was great, "and because their sin is very grievous."[Gen 18:20]In response, Abraham inquired of the LORD if he would spare the city if 50 righteous people were found in it, to which the LORD agreed he would not destroy it for the sake of the righteous yet dwelling therein. Abraham then inquired of God for mercy at lower numbers (first 45, then 40, then 30, then 20, and finally at 10), with the LORD agreeing each time.[Gen 18:22-33][33] Two angels were sent to Sodom to investigate and were met by Abraham's nephew Lot, who convinced the angels to lodge with him, and they ate with Lot.
Genesis 19:4-5 (KJV) described what followed, which confirmed its end:
4 But before they lay down, the men of the city, [even] the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter:
5 And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where [are] the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them. (NRSV: know them, NIV: can have sex with them, NJB: can have intercourse with them).
Then (not having found even 10 righteous people in the city), they commanded Lot to gather his family and leave. As they made their escape, one angel commanded Lot to "look not behind thee" (singular "thee").[Genesis 19:17] However, as Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed with brimstone and fire from the LORD, Lot's wife looked back at the city, and she became a pillar of salt.[Genesis 19:23-26]
Religious views[edit]
Jewish[edit]
Rictor Norton views classical Jewish texts as stressing the cruelty and lack of hospitality of the inhabitants of Sodom to the "stranger".[34] The people of Sodom were seen as guilty of many other significant sins. Rabbinic writings affirm that the Sodomites also committed economic crimes, blasphemy and bloodshed.[35] One of the worst was to give money or even gold ingots to beggars, after inscribing their names on them, and then subsequently refusing to sell them food. The unfortunate stranger would end up starving and after his death, the people who gave him the money would reclaim it.A rabbinic tradition, described in the Mishnah, postulates that the sin of Sodom was related to property: Sodomites believed that "what is mine is mine, and what is yours is yours" (Abot), which is interpreted as a lack of compassion. Another rabbinic tradition is that these two wealthy cities treated visitors in a sadistic fashion. One major crime done to strangers was almost identical to that of Procrustes in Greek mythology. This would be the story of the "bed" that guests to Sodom were forced to sleep in: if they were too short they were stretched to fit it, and if they were too tall, they were cut up (indeed, in Hebrew and Yiddish, the corresponding term for a Procrustean bed is a "Sodom bed").
In another incident, Eliezer, Abraham's servant, went to visit Lot in Sodom and got in a dispute with a Sodomite over a beggar, and was hit in the forehead with a stone, making him bleed. The Sodomite demanded Eliezer pay him for the service of bloodletting, and a Sodomite judge sided with the Sodomite. Eliezer then struck the judge in the forehead with a stone and asked the judge to pay the Sodomite.
The Talmud and the Sefer haYashar (midrash) also recount two incidents of a young girl (one involved Lot's daughter Paltith) who gave some bread to a poor man who had entered the city. When the townspeople discovered their acts of kindness, they burned Paltith and smeared the other girl's body with honey and hung her from the city wall until she was eaten by bees. (Sanhedrin 109a.) It is this gruesome event, and her scream in particular, the Talmud concludes, that are alluded to in the verse that heralds the city's destruction: "So[36] said, 'Because the outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah has become great, and because their sin has been very grave, I will descend and see...'"[Gen 18:20-21]
A modern orthodox position is one that holds, "The paradigmatic instance of such aberrant behavior is found in the demand of the men of Sodom to 'know' the men visiting Lot, the nephew of Abraham, thus lending their name to the practice of 'sodomy'."[37]
The scholar and activist Jay Michaelson proposes a reading of the story of Sodom that emphasizes the violation of hospitality as well as the violence of the Sodomites. "Homosexual rape is the way in which they violate hospitality—not the essence of their transgression. Reading the story of Sodom as being about homosexuality is like reading the story of an ax murderer as being about an ax."[38] Michaelson places the story of Sodom in context with other Genesis stories regarding Abraham's hospitality to strangers, and argues that when other texts in the Hebrew Bible mention Sodom, they do so without commentary on homosexuality. The verses cited by Michaelson include Jeremiah 23:14,[Jeremiah 23:14] where the sins of Jerusalem are compared to Sodom and are listed as adultery, lying, and strengthening the hands of evildoers; Amos 4:1-11 (oppressing the poor and crushing the needy);[Amos 4:1-11] and Ezekiel 16:49-50,[Ezekiel 16:49-50] which defines the sins of Sodom as "pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty, and did toevah before me, and I took them away as I saw fit." Michaelson uses toevah in place of abomination to emphasize the original Hebrew, which he explains as being more correctly translated as "taboo".[39]
Christian[edit]
Several theories have been advanced in Christian thought concerning the sin of Sodom. One area of dispute is whether the mob was demanding the homosexual rape of Lot’s guests. A second area of dispute is whether the act of homosexuality or the act of inhospitality and violence toward foreigners is the more significant ethical downfall of Sodom.[40][41]The first contention between the two positions primarily focuses upon the meaning of the Hebrew verb ידע (yada), translated as know in the King James Version:
And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where [are] the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them. —Gen 19:5Some Hebrew scholars believe that yada, unlike the English word know, requires the existence of a "personal and intimate relationship".[42] For this reason, many of the most popular of the 20th century translations, including the New International Version, the New King James Version, and the New Living Translation, translate yada as "have sex with" or "know ... carnally" in Gen 19:5 [43]
Those who favor the non-sexual interpretation argue against a denotation of sexual behavior in this context, noting that while the Hebrew word for know appears over 900 times in the Hebrew Scriptures, only approximately 1% (13-14 times)[34][44] of those references is it clearly used as a euphemism for realizing sexual intimacy.[45] Instead, those who hold to this interpretation usually see the demand to know as demanding the right to interrogate the strangers.[46]
Countering this is the observation that one of the examples of know meaning to know sexually occurs when Lot responds to the Gen 19:5 request, only three verses later in the same narrative:
Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing.... —Genesis 19:8The following is a major text in regard to these conflicting opinions:
Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. —Jude 1:7This reference to "going after strange flesh" is understood in different ways to include something akin to bestiality, having illicit sex with strangers, having sex with angels, but most often God's destruction of the populations of the four cities is interpreted to mean homosexual (same-sex) relations.[47]
Many who interpret the stories in a non-sexual context contend that as the word for "strange" is akin to "another", "other", "altered" or even "next", the meaning is unclear, and if the condemnation of Sodom was the result of sexual activities perceived to be perverse, then it is likely that it was because women sought to commit fornication with "other than human" angels,[48] perhaps referring to Genesis 6 or the apocryphal Book of Enoch. Countering this, it is pointed out that Genesis 6 refers to angels seeking women, not men seeking angels, and that both Sodom and Gomorrah were engaged in the sin Jude describes before the angelic visitation, and that, regardless, it is doubtful that the Sodomites knew they were angels. In addition, it is argued the word used in the King James Version of the Bible for "strange", can mean unlawful or corrupted (Rm. 7:3; Gal. 1:6), and that the apocryphal Second Book of Enoch (different from the one Jude quotes from) condemns "sodomitic" sex (Enoch 10:3; 34:1),[49] thus indicating that homosexual relations was the prevalent physical sin of Sodom.[50]
Both the non-sexual and the homosexuality view invoke certain classical writings as well as other portions of the Bible.[51][52]
Now this was the sin of Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen. —Ezekiel 16:49-50Here the nonsexual view focuses on the inhospitality aspect, while the other notes the description detestable or abomination, the Hebrew word for which often denotes moral sins, including those of a sexual nature.[53][54]
In the Gospel of Matthew (and corresponding verse) when Jesus warns of a worse judgment for some cities than Sodom, inhospitality is perceived by some as the sin, while others see it fundamentally being impenitence:
If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town. —Matthew 10:14-15The nonsexual view focuses on the cultural importance of hospitality, which this biblical story shares with other ancient civilizations, such as Greece and Rome, where hospitality was of singular importance and strangers were under the protection of the gods.[55]
Within the Christian Churches that agree on the possible sexual interpretation of know (yada) in this context, there is still a difference of opinion on whether homosexuality is important. The Anglican Communion, on its website, presents the argument that the story is "not even vaguely about homosexual love or relationships", but instead "about dominance and rape, by definition an act of violence, not of sex or love." This argument that the violence and threat of violence to foreign visitors is the true ethical downfall of Sodom (and not homosexuality), also observes the similarity between the Sodom and Gomorrah and the Battle of Gibeah Bible stories. In both stories, an inhospitable mob demands the homosexual rape of a foreigner or foreigners. As the mob instead settles for the rape and murder of the foreigner’s female concubine in the Battle of Gibeah story, the homosexual aspect is generally seen as inconsequential, and the ethical downfall is understood to be the violence and threat of violence to foreigners by the mob. This Exodus 22:21-24 lesson is viewed as a more historically accurate way to interpret the Sodom and Gomorrah story.[40][56]
Islamic[edit]
Main article: Lot in Islam
The Quran contains seven references to "the people of Lut", the biblical Lot, but meaning the residents of Sodom and Gomorrah (references 7:80–84, 11:77–83, 21:74, 22:43, 26:165–175, 27:56–59, and 29:27–33), and their destruction by Allah is associated explicitly with their sexual practices:[57][58]The 'people of Lot' transgressed consciously against the bounds of God. Their avarice led to inhospitality and robbery, which in turn led to the humiliation of strangers by mistreatment and rape. It was their abominable sin of homosexual sex which was seen as symptomatic of their attitudes,[59][60] and upon Lot's exhorting them to abandon their transgression against God, they ridiculed him,[61] and threatened him with dire consequences;[60][62][63] Lot only prayed to God to be saved from doing as they did. Then Gabriel met Lot and said that he must leave the city quickly, as God had given this command to Lot for saving his life. In the Quran it was written that Lot's wife stayed behind as she had transgressed. She met her fate in the disaster, and that only Lot and his family were saved during the destruction of their city,[64] with the understanding that the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are identified in Genesis, but "the location remains unnamed in the Qur'an"[65]
In the Quran, surah (chapter) 26 Ash-Shu`arā' (The Poets) –
So, We saved him and his family, all. Except an old woman among those who remained behind.
Commentary: This was his wife, who was a bad old woman. She stayed behind and was destroyed with whoever else was left. This is similar to what Allah says about them in Surat Al-A`raf and Surah Hud, and in Surat Al-Hijr, where Allah commanded him to take his family at night, except for his wife, and not to turn around when they heard the Sayhah as it came upon his people. So they patiently obeyed the command of Allah and persevered, and Allah sent upon the people a punishment which struck them all, and rained upon them stones of baked clay, piled up.
Other references[edit]
Moses[edit]
Moses referred to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in Deuteronomy 29:22-23:"Your children who follow you in later generations and foreigners who come from distant lands will see the calamities that have fallen on the land and the diseases with which the LORD has afflicted it. The whole land will be a burning waste of salt and sulfur—nothing planted, nothing sprouting, no vegetation growing on it. It will be like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboyim, which the LORD overthrew in fierce anger." - NIVSee also: Deuteronomy 32:32-33
Major Prophets[edit]
Isaiah 1:9-10, Isaiah 3:9 and Isaiah 13:19-22 addresses people as from Sodom and Gomorrah, associates Sodom with shameless sinning and tells Babylon that it will end like Sodom and Gomorrah.Jeremiah 23:14, Jeremiah 49:17-18, Jeremiah 50:39-40 and Lamentations 4:6 associate Sodom and Gomorrah with adultery and lies, prophesies the fate of Edom, south of the Dead Sea, prophesies the fate of Babylon and uses Sodom as a comparison.
In Ezekiel 16:48-50 God compares Jerusalem to Sodom, saying "Sodom never did what you and your daughters have done." He explains that the sin of Sodom was that "She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me."
Minor Prophets[edit]
In Amos 4:1-11 God tells the Israelites he had warned them and treated them like Sodom and Gomorrah, still they did not repent.In Zephaniah 2:9 the prophet tells Moab and Ammon, southeast and northeast of the Dead Sea, that they will end up like Sodom and Gomorrah.
New Testament[edit]
In Matthew 10:1-15, cf. Luke 10:1-12, Jesus declares certain cities more damnable than Sodom and Gomorrah, due to their response to Jesus' disciples, in the light of greater grace (RSV):"And if any one will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town. Truly, I say to you, it shall be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomor'rah than for that town."In Matthew 11:20-24 Jesus prophesies the fate of some cities where he did some of his works (RSV):
"And you, Caper'na-um, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that it shall be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you."In Luke 17:28-30 Jesus compares his second-coming to the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah (RSV):
"Likewise as it was in the days of Lot—they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom fire and sulphur rained from heaven and destroyed them all—so will it be on the day when the Son of man is revealed."In Romans 9:29 Paul quotes Isaiah 1:9-10 (RSV): "And as Isaiah predicted, 'If the Lord of hosts had not left us children, we would have fared like Sodom and been made like Gomor'rah.'"
In 2Peter 2:4-10 Peter uses the time of Sodom and Lot in his description of the time of the second coming of Jesus.
Jude 1:7 records that both Sodom and Gomorrah were "giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire."
Revelation 11:7-8 makes an allegorical use of Sodom when it describes the places where two prophets will descend during the Apocalypse.
Deuterocanonical references[edit]
Wisdom 10:6 refers to Five Cities, including Sodom, or Pentapolis: "Wisdom rescued a righteous man when the ungodly were perishing; he escaped the fire that descended on the Five Cities."Sodom was one of a group of five towns, the Pentapolis (Wisdom 10:6): Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboim and Bela—also called Zoar.[Gen 19:22] The Pentapolis region is also collectively referred to as "the cities of the plain".[13:12]
Modern Sodom[edit]
The site of the present Dead Sea Works, a large operation for the extraction of Dead Sea minerals, is called "Sdom" (סדום) according to its traditional Arab name, Khirbet as-sudūm. Nearby is unique Mount Sodom (הר סדום in Hebrew) consisting mainly of salt. In the Plain of Sdom (מישור סדום) to the south there are a few springs and two small agricultural villages.See also[edit]
- The 120 Days of Sodom
- Apples of Sodom
- Aye, and Gomorrah
- The Bible and homosexuality
- Bombing of Hamburg during the last week of July 1943, designated Operation Gomorrah
- Gesangsszene, a musical setting by Karl Amadeus Hartmann of Jean Giraudoux's Sodome et Gomorrhe (Sodom and Gomorrah (play)).
- Homosexuality in the Hebrew Bible
- Judaism and sexual orientation
- LGBT in Islam
- Lot (biblical person)
- Lot's Wife
- Religion and homosexuality
- Tripura, similar cities in the Hindu mythos
- Vayeira, the Torah portion containing the story of Sodom and Gomorrah
- Vine of Sodom
- Xenia
References[edit]
- Jump up ^ "Sodom". Wiktionary. Retrieved 2012-05-10. Adapted from «/ˈsɒdəm
As we can see the Major Sin God Judged was Idolatry and Homosexuallity. The Other sins included being haughty and unconcerned of other people and not feeding the hungry. Doing detestable things before the Lord.
In the End of Days this will emerge and grow. Which we are all witnesses to this and have to conform and be politically correct about it unless we be termed as Gay bashers or intolerant. We have to make our children understand that being Gay is normal and have to accept it although God has pronounced that it is a Major Sin!
This is another sign fulfilled.
Another Piece of the puzzle.
So, The days of Noah and the Days of Lot have already taken Place.
The Prophecies have been fulfilled to the exact decimal point.
Gay Marriages, Lesbian Marriages, Hybrid human and Animal genetic Mutalations, all happening and show no signs of receeding.
The truth is in the following article:
Related Media
The first chapter of Paul’s letter to the Romans contains what most readers consider the Bible’s clearest condemnation of same-sex relations. Recent scholarship reads the same text and finds just the opposite. Who is right?
To most readers, the first chapter of Paul’s letter to the Romans contains the Bible’s clearest condemnation of same-sex relations--both male and female. Recent scholarship, though, reads the same text and finds just the opposite--that homosexuality is innate and therefore normal, moral, and biblical.
Reconstructing Romans
In Romans, Paul seems to use homosexuality as indicative of man’s deep seated rebellion against God and God’s proper condemnation of man. New interpretations cast a different light on the passage.
Paul, the religious Jew, is looking across the Mediterranean at life in the capital of Graeco-Roman culture. Homosexuality in itself is not the focus of condemnation. Rather, Paul’s opprobrium falls upon paganism’s refusal to acknowledge the true God.
It’s also possible Paul did not understand the physiological basis of genuine homosexuality. John Boswell, professor of history at Yale, is among those who differ with the classical interpretation. In Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality he writes:
The persons Paul condemns are manifestly not homosexual: what he derogates are homosexual acts committed by apparently heterosexual persons....It is not clear that Paul distinguished in his thoughts or writings between gay persons (in the sense of permanent sexual preference) and heterosexuals who simply engaged in periodic homosexual behavior. It is in fact unlikely that many Jews of his day recognized such a distinction, but it is quite apparent that--whether or not he was aware of their existence--Paul did not discuss gay persons but only homosexual acts committed by heterosexual persons.1 [emphasis in the original]
Paul is speaking to those who violate their natural sexual orientation, Boswell contends, those who go against their own natural desire: “‘Nature’ in Romans 1:26, then, should be understood as the personal nature of the pagans in question.”2 [emphasis in the original]
Since a homosexual’s natural desire is for the same sex, this verse doesn’t apply to him. He has not chosen to set aside heterosexuality for homosexuality; the orientation he was born with is homosexual. Demanding that he forsake his “sin” and become heterosexual is actually the kind of violation of one’s nature Paul condemns here.
Please Note: God has already Condemned them, so we don't have to. We can only pray and counsel them. Only God can deliver them from His punishment.
So to all those countries which are spitting in God's face by way of legalizing Gay and Lesbian Marriage, God will judge those Nations accordingly. Thus, it is so written.
Romans 1:18-27
Both views can’t be correct. Only a close look at the text itself will give us the answer. The details of this passage show why these new interpretations are impossible:3
"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.
Therefore, God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, that their bodies might be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error."
Let me start by making two observations. First, this is about God being mad: “For the wrath of God [orge] is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men....”
Second, there is a specific progression that leads to this “orgy” of anger. Men “suppress the truth in unrighteousness” (v. 18). They exchanged “the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator” (v. 25). Next, “God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity...” (v. 24). They “exchanged the natural [sexual] function for that which is unnatural (v. 26). Therefore, the wrath of God rightly falls on them (v. 18); they are without excuse (v. 20).
This text is a crystal clear condemnation of homosexuality by the Apostle Paul in the middle of his most brilliant discourse on general revelation. Paul is not speaking to a localized aberration of pedophilia or temple prostitution that’s part of life in the capital of Graeco-Roman culture. He is talking about a universal condition of man.
Regarding the same-sex behavior itself, here are the specific words Paul uses: a lust of the heart, an impurity and dishonoring to the body (v. 24); a degrading passion that’s unnatural (v. 29); an indecent act and an error (v. 27); not proper and the product of a depraved mind (v. 28).
There’s only one way the clear sense of this passage can be missed: if someone is in total revolt against God. According to Paul, homosexual behavior is evidence of active, persistent rebellion against one’s Creator. Verse 32 shows it’s rooted in direct, willful, aggressive sedition against God--true of all so-called Christians who are defending their own homosexuality. God’s response is explicit: “They are without excuse” (v. 20).
Born Gay?
What if one’s “natural” desire is for the same sex, though. What if his homosexuality is part of his physical constitution? There are four different reasons this is a bad argument. The first three are compelling; the fourth is unassailable.
First, this rejoinder assumes there is such a thing as innate homosexuality. The scientific data is far from conclusive, though. Contrary to the hasty claims of the press, there is no definitive evidence that homosexuality is determined by physiological factors (see “Just Doing What Comes Naturally,” Clear Thinking, Spring, 1997).
There’s a second problem. If all who have a desire for the same sex do so “naturally,” then to whom does this verse apply? If everybody is only following their natural sexual desires, then which particular individuals fall under this ban, those who are not aroused by their own gender, but have sex anyway? Generally, for men at least, if there is no arousal, there is no sex. And if there is arousal, according to Boswell et al, then the passion must be natural.
Third, this interpretation introduces a whole new concept--constitutional homosexuality--that is entirely foreign to the text. Boswell himself admits that it was “in fact unlikely that many Jews of [Paul’s] day recognized such a distinction,” and that possibly even Paul himself was in the dark.
If Paul did not understand genuine homosexuality, though, then how can one say he excepted constitutional homosexuals when he wrote that they “exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural”? This argument self-destructs.
Further, if Paul spoke only to those violating their personal sexual orientation, then wouldn’t he also warn that some men burned unnaturally towards women, and some women towards men? Wouldn’t Paul warn against both types of violation--heterosexuals committing indecent acts with members of the same sex, and homosexuals committing indecent acts with members of the opposite sex?
What in the text allows us to distinguish between constitutional homosexuals and others? Only one word: “natural.” A close look at this word and what it modifies, though, leads to the most devastating critique of all.
Natural Desire or Natural Function?
Paul was not unclear about what he meant by “natural.” Homosexuals do not abandon natural desires; they abandon natural functions: “For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another...” (1:26-27)
The Greek word kreesis, translated “function” in this text, is used only these two times in the New Testament, but is found frequently in other literature of the time. According to the standard Greek language reference A Greek/English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature,4 the word means “use, relations, function, especially of sexual intercourse.”
Paul is not talking about natural desires here, but natural functions. He is not talking about what one wants sexually, but how one is built to operate sexually. The body is built to function in a specific way. Men were not built to function sexually with men, but with women.
This conclusion becomes unmistakable when one notes what men abandon in verse 27, according to Paul. The modern argument depends on the text teaching that men abandoned their own natural desire for woman and burned toward one another. Men whose natural desire was for other men would then be exempted from Paul’s condemnation. Paul says nothing of the kind, though.
Paul says men forsake not their own natural desire (their constitutional make-up), but rather the “natural function of the woman..” They abandoned the female, who was built by God to be man’s sexual compliment.
The error has nothing to do with anything in the male’s own constitution that he’s denying. It is in the rejection of the proper sexual companion God has made for him--a woman: “The men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts....” (v. 27)
Natural desires go with natural functions. The passion that exchanges the natural function of sex between a man and a woman for the unnatural function of sex between a man and a man is what Paul calls a degrading passion.
Jesus clarified the natural, normal relationship: “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female and said ‘For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother and shall cleave to his wife and the two shall become one flesh [sexual intercourse].’?” (Matthew 19:4-5)
Homosexual desire is unnatural because it causes a man to abandon the natural sexual compliment God has ordained for him: a woman. That was Paul’s view. If it was Paul’s view recorded in the inspired text, then it is God’s view.
Please note : God also condemns Idolatry, very clearly. This was seen in the Book of Enoch as well and the Punishment of the Fallen Angels for their misdeed and misleading mankind into idolatry, so that they could be worshipped instead of the Lord Almighty.
So we find that Homosexuality is quite common nowadays, where they actually have Gay pride parades, Marriages, and are allowed openly to show affection. No remorse or shame.
We have to understand that God has already condemned them, so all we can do is pray for them and if need be to properly counsel them. We are not to judge them but to are to preach to them and help them.
Going Further; Earthquakes, Tsunamis/Floods, Volcanos.
Looking at the Prophecy Chart, the intensity, frequency and deathtoll during the End of Days should be higher. Lets see what the Scientists have to say:
Statistics Graphs
Largest and Deadliest Earthquakes by Year: 1990 - Present
Here I post the Earthquake Chart of the 1980's, 1990's,2000 and 2010-12.
Is it not Interesting that the USGS National Earthquake Information Center confirms this prediction?
The deathtoll of the beginning of the 2010 decade is higher than the deathtolls of the 2000s, 1990s, and 1980's......
Now an article on Hurricanes:
Going Further; Earthquakes, Tsunamis/Floods, Volcanos.
Looking at the Prophecy Chart, the intensity, frequency and deathtoll during the End of Days should be higher. Lets see what the Scientists have to say:
Statistics Graphs
Largest and Deadliest Earthquakes by Year: 1990 - Present
Here I post the Earthquake Chart of the 1980's, 1990's,2000 and 2010-12.
Is it not Interesting that the USGS National Earthquake Information Center confirms this prediction?
The deathtoll of the beginning of the 2010 decade is higher than the deathtolls of the 2000s, 1990s, and 1980's......
Now an article on Hurricanes:
Is hurricane intensity increasing?
Are hurricanes getting more severe? Hurricane Isabel, a Category 5 storm that hit the East Coast in 2003, looked pretty intense when seen from orbit.
StockTrek/Digital Vision/Getty Images
There are three main schools of thought when it comes to whether hurricane intensity is on the rise. The first opinion is that the data is skewed. Hurricane counts were difficult to obtain before satellites began tracking storms in the 1970s, and that's not even getting into later incremental improvements in intensity assessments like more advanced computer tracking systems. Once you push back past the 20th century, the estimates grow even dodgier. Many of history's storms likely went completely unrecorded: If they made landfall in unpopulated areas, dissipated while still out at sea, or were only witnessed by ships whose crews may not have survived to tell the tale, they've been lost to the books.
The second school of thought is that hurricane frequency and intensity wax and wane in a yet-to-be explained cycle, and the current upsurge we're experiencing is simply part of this. Whether the cycle is purely natural, partially attributable to humans or due to some unknown combination of factors is still a matter of debate.
Thirdly, many scientists -- including all of those who served on the International Panel on Climate Change in 2007 -- think hurricanes are steadily increasing in intensity each season. They also think that global warming and other atmospheric anomalies are to some extent responsible for that rise. Perhaps the data is marginally off, perhaps natural cycles do contribute some, but by and large, these experts hypothesize that human-caused climate change is the main culprit for increasingly ferocious storms. That's because one of the three fundamental building blocks for hurricanes are warm ocean temperatures. And using data compiled mainly from 1970 on, many researchers have found correlations between rises in sea-surface temperature and surges in the number of powerfully intense hurricanes [sources: Emanuel, Bals].
One study researched data between 1970 and 2004, and found that while most hurricane patterns fluctuated during that span, the number of very intense storms increased dramatically [source: Webster].
Despite these tantalizing clues, it seems scientists have yet to come to a consensus on much of anything when it comes to hurricane severity. But if the data set is reliable enough, and the cyclical camp is wrong and this isn't just a fierce phase that will eventually pass, the threat of worsening storms coupled with rising sea levels might be enough to make anyone move a little further inland.
Please note; Job 38; 22-23 God speaking and questioning Job
22." Have you entered the treasury of snow, or have you seen the treasury of hail,
23. "Which I have reserved for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war?"
God is talking about the Artic poles.....So how are the poles doing?
Also God is talking about the End of Days("for the day of battle and war"), also called the Tribulation.
Here's another Scientific research article:
1. Why are global warming specialists watching the Arctic so closely?
The Arctic is global warming's canary in the coal mine. It's a highly sensitive region, and it's being profoundly affected by the changing climate. Most scientists view what's happening now in the Arctic as a harbinger of things to come.
ince 1979, the size of the summer polar ice cap has shrunk more than 20 percent. (Illustration from NASA)
2. What kinds of changes are taking place in the Arctic now?
Average temperatures in the Arctic region are rising twice as fast as they are elsewhere in the world. Arctic ice is getting thinner, melting and rupturing. For example, the largest single block of ice in the Arctic, the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf, had been around for 3,000 years before it started cracking in 2000. Within two years it had split all the way through and is now breaking into pieces.
The polar ice cap as a whole is shrinking. Images from NASA satellites show that the area of permanent ice cover is contracting at a rate of 9 percent each decade. If this trend continues, summers in the Arctic could become ice-free by the end of the century.
3. How does this dramatic ice melt affect the Arctic?
The melting of once-permanent ice is already affecting native people, wildlife and plants. When the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf splintered, the rare freshwater lake it enclosed, along with its unique ecosystem, drained into the ocean. Polar bears, whales, walrus and seals are changing their feeding and migration patterns, making it harder for native people to hunt them. And along Arctic coastlines, entire villages will be uprooted because they're in danger of being swamped. The native people of the Arctic view global warming as a threat to their cultural identity and their very survival.
4. Will Arctic ice melt have any effects beyond the polar region?
ALASKA HEATS UP
The effects of global warming on the north are not limited to the Arctic -- higher temperatures are already affecting people, wildlife and landscapes across Alaska. Click on the numbers on this map to see what's happening on the front lines of global warming.
1. Barrow 2. Shismaref 3. Yukon River 4. Wasilla 5. Kenai Peninsula 6. McCall Glacier 7. Fairbanks
(See more Google Earth maps.)
Yes -- the contraction of the Arctic ice cap is accelerating global warming. Snow and ice usually form a protective, cooling layer over the Arctic. When that covering melts, the earth absorbs more sunlight and gets hotter. And the latest scientific data confirm the far-reaching effects of climbing global temperatures.
Rising temperatures are already affecting Alaska, where the spruce bark beetle is breeding faster in the warmer weather. These pests now sneak in an extra generation each year. From 1993 to 2003, they chewed up 3.4 million acres of Alaskan forest.
Melting glaciers and land-based ice sheets also contribute to rising sea levels, threatening low-lying areas around the globe with beach erosion, coastal flooding, and contamination of freshwater supplies. (Sea level is not affected when floating sea ice melts.) At particular risk are island nations like the Maldives; over half of that nation's populated islands lie less than 6 feet above sea level. Even major cities like Shanghai and Lagos would face similar problems, as they also lie just six feet above present water levels.
Rising seas would severely impact the United States as well. Scientists project as much as a 3-foot sea-level rise by 2100. According to a 2001 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency study, this increase would inundate some 22,400 square miles of land along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States, primarily in Louisiana, Texas, Florida and North Carolina.
A warmer Arctic will also affect weather patterns and thus food production around the world. Wheat farming in Kansas, for example, would be profoundly affected by the loss of ice cover in the Arctic. According to a NASA Goddard Institute of Space Studies computer model, Kansas would be 4 degrees warmer in the winter without Arctic ice, which normally creates cold air masses that frequently slide southward into the United States. Warmer winters are bad news for wheat farmers, who need freezing temperatures to grow winter wheat. And in summer, warmer days would rob Kansas soil of 10 percent of its moisture, drying out valuable cropland.
5. Can we do anything to stop global warming?
So, Earthquakes are intesifying, Hurricanes are intensifying, Artic Icecaps are melting which would result in floods, etc.
Diseases and new strains of Ebola are being found.....Bacteria are becoming resistant.
So all Prophecies are being fulfilled.
My Opinion:
It crossed my mind on various occassions why are these facts not being televised, or shown on a larger scale.
What I find interesting is that sporadic news events do take place but noone seems to put these facts together.
Recently there was an article where American soldiers were to alter their DNA to become Bio-chemical resistant.
There was another article where children, yes children, were going to internet and virtual reality de-addiction centers.
So, to conclude what Jesus said about history repeating itself when the time of His coming will be like the days of Noah and Lot, guess what? We have just proved Him right. Oh, Yes.
So, to add further, Jesus also said that the generation that would see Israel come back to its own land would be the generation that would see His coming as well.
Here I would like to add there are two possiblities which would shake the foundations of everyones faith.
1. Generation being 50 years
2. Generation being being 70 years.
We have also to consider that in 1948/49 and 1968/69 there were 4 blood moons falling on Feast days of the Lord.
1948 Israel was declared to become a State fulfilling Isaiah 66: 7-8.
So if the Generation that sees Christ comes in the heavens is to be calculated then;
A. If we add 50 Years to 1948/49 it becomes 1998/99.
B. If we add 70 Years to 1948/49 it becomes 2018/19.
It is also believed after the 6 day war when Jerusalem came back to Jewish control after 2000 years is actually the correct Generation. By that time many Jews from around the world came back to Israel and started inhabiting and cultivating the land.
In that case we have the following scenarios:
A. 1968/69 add 50 years is 2018/19.
B. 1968/69 add 70 years is 2038/39.
Now again we have 4 blood moons in 2014/15 that fall on the Feasts of The Lord. ie. Passover and Tabernacles.
I have to give credit to Pastor Mark Biltz of discovering this back in 2008.
Please watch his sermons for more information.
Please note when a blood moon falls on a Feast day, this is a sign from God himself that war is impending for Israel. Confirmed again recently when the blood moon fell on April 15th 2014. Just a few days after, the Gaza conflict emerged which is currently going on.
Here is another article from Wikipedia:
An escalation of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict began in 2014 following a series of events.[22] These events included the continued blockade of the Gaza Strip by the Egyptian and Israeli governments, continued rocket attacks from Gaza, the collapse of American-sponsored peace talks, attempts by rival Palestinian factions to form a coalition government, the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers, the subsequent kidnapping and murder of a Palestinian teenager, the arrest by Israel of nearly all of Hamas' West Bank leaders, and increased rocket attacks on Israel when an agreement to gradually lift the blockade of Gaza was not fulfilled, since Hamas did not keep the previous ceasefire.[23][24][22][25] On the night of 6 July, an Israeli air raid on Gaza killed seven Hamas militants,[26] while Hamas increased rocket attacks on Israel[23] and declared that "all Israelis" had become "legitimate targets".[27][28] On 8 July 2014, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched Operation Protective Edge in the Gaza Strip.[29]
On 13 July, the Israeli military reported that more than 1,300 Israeli strikes had taken place on Gaza, while more than 800 rockets had been fired from Gaza into Israel.[30] The next day, 14 July, Egypt announced a cease-fire initiative. The Israeli government accepted the proposal, and temporarily stopped hostilities in the morning of 15 July. However, all Palestinian factions, including Palestinian President Abbas, announced they had not been consulted on the Egyptian initiative and were only informed of the proposal via the media.[31] Hamas rejected it in "its current form", as did other Palestinian factions.[31][32] On 16 July, Hamas and Islamic Jihad offered Israel a 10-year truce, with ten conditions, mostly centered on ending the blockade.[33]
The conflict is the deadliest military operation to have taken place in Gaza since the Second Intifada, though both the exact number of deaths and the percentage of the dead who were militants as opposed to civilians have been in dispute.[34][35] According to the Gaza Health Ministry, at least 1,712 Palestinians were killed and 9,080 were injured, and the dead included 398 children, 207 women, and 74 elderly people.[36] The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimated that 1,176 of 1,717 deaths whose identities they have so far verified, were civilians (85%), of whom 573 were women or children.[18] OCHA's spokesman said "There is literally no safe place for civilians" in Gaza.[37] 64 IDF soldiers have been killed, as well as two Israeli civilians and a Thai worker.[13] The Israel Defense Forces have stated that Hamas has been using civilians as "human shields";[38], which Hamas denied.[39] 44% of the territory of the Gaza Strip has been declared a no-go zone by the Israeli military.[40]
According to OCHA, as of 3 August 2014 in the Gaza Strip, over 485,000 Palestinians had been displaced, of which 269,793 were taking shelter in 90 UNRWA schools. UNRWA has exhausted its capacity to absorb displaced persons, and overcrowding in shelters risks the outbreak of epidemics. 1.8 million people are affected by a halt or reduction of the water supply, 141 schools and 26 health facilities have been damaged, 945 homes (10,690 families) have been totally destroyed or severely damaged and the homes of 5,435 families have been damaged but are still inhabitable. Throughout the Gaza Strip, people receive only 3 hours of electricity per day. The destruction of Gaza’s only power plant had an immediate effect on the public health situation and reduced water and sanitation services, with hospitals becoming dependent on generators. More than 485,000 internally displaced persons are in need of emergency food assistance.[18]
Street in Ramallah, Palestine after IDF raid during Operation Brother's Keeper, June 2014[citation needed]
Writing in The National Interest, David C. Hendrickson says that in the period after 2012 ceasefire, although there was "intermittent rocket fire from Gaza splinter groups...Hamas kept its fire" and Netanyahu acknowledged in March 2014 that number of rocket attacks from Gaza in the past year was the "lowest in a decade."[48] J.J. Goldberg writes that since the 2012 ceasefire "Hamas hadn’t fired a single rocket...and had largely suppressed fire by smaller jihadi groups."[49]
Israel continued with its blockade. "[c]rossings were repeatedly shut, buffer zones...were reinstated. Imports declined, exports were blocked, and fewer Gazans were given exit permits to Israel and the West Bank."[24]
According to the Middle East Monitor, in the year following the truce, Israel violated the cease-fire nearly 120 times.[50]
According to Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there were 36 rocket attacks in 2013 and 85 in the first five months of 2014.[51] Most of the 85 rockets were fired in March, after the IDF killed 3 members of Islamic Jihad in an operation.[52]
Range of missiles launched from Gaza Strip
On 12 June 2014, three Israeli teenagers were abducted in the West Bank: Naftali Fraenkel, Gilad Shaer, and Eyal Yifrah. Israel blamed Hamas, and the IDF stated that the two men Israel suspects of having kidnapped the teenagers were known members of Hamas.[64][65] No evidence of Hamas involvement has been offered by the Israeli authorities[66] and high-ranking members of Hamas have denied the group had any involvement in the incident.[67] The Palestinian Authority in the West Bank attribute the abductions to the Qawasameh clan which is notorious for acting against Hamas's policies and any attempts to reach an entente with Israel.[68] Hamas political chief Khaled Meshal said he can neither confirm nor deny the kidnapping of the three Israelis, but congratulated the abductors.[69] Israel launched Operation Brother's Keeper, a large-scale crackdown of what it called Hamas's terrorist infrastructure and personnel in the West Bank,[70] ostensibly aimed at securing the release of the kidnapped teenagers. 10 Palestinians were killed in numerous raids,[71][72][73] and between 350 and 600 Palestinians,[67][71][74][75] including nearly all of Hamas' West Bank leaders,[25][76][77] were arrested.[78][79][80] Among those arrested were many people who had only recently been freed under the terms of the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange.[citation needed] Brigadier General Moti Almoz, the chief spokesman of the Israeli military, said: "We have been instructed by the political echelon to hit Hamas hard."[81]
On 30 June, search teams found the bodies of the three missing teenagers near Hebron.[82][83] Israeli authorities appear to have known almost from the outset that the three had been shot almost immediately after the kidnapping,[84][85][86] and according to BBC reporter Jon Donnison, Micky Rosenfeld told him anonymously that Israel police are working on the assumption that the abductors were a lone cell operating independently of the Hamas leadership, although this claim has not been verified.[87] Al-Monitor has reported that the kidnappers were once Hamas-related branch that had gone rogue.[88] A day after the Israeli teens were buried, a Palestinian teenager was kidnapped and murdered.
From 1 May to 11 June 6 rockets and 3 mortar shells were launched from Gaza towards Israel. From the day of the abductions on 12 June through 5 July 117 rockets were launched from Gaza [89] and there were approximately 80 Israeli air strikes on Gaza.[90][91] On the night of 6 July, an Israeli strike killed seven Hamas militants.[26] In response, Hamas' militants increased rocket attacks on Israel.[23] By 7 July, Hamas militants had fired 100 rockets from Gaza at Israeli territory and the Israeli Air Force had bombed several sites in Gaza.[92][93][94] Early on 8 July IAF bombed 50 targets in the Gaza Strip.[95] Israel's military also thwarted a militant infiltration from the sea.[96] That same day, Hamas declared that "all Israelis" had become "legitimate targets"[27][28] and insisted that Israel end all attacks on Gaza, release those re-arrested during the crackdown in the West Bank, lift the blockade on Gaza and return to the cease-fire conditions of 2012 as conditions for a ceasefire.[97]
A map showing the location of missile damage in Northern Gaza[112]
A Palestinian child being treated at the Shefaa Hospital[citation needed]
Israeli soldiers shielding a 4-year old Israeli boy during a Hamas rocket attack.[citation needed]
Shaymaa al-Masri, five years old, at a-Shifaa Hospital, Gaza. Shaymaa was injured when her uncle’s house was bombed in the early afternoon of 9 July 2014[citation needed]
As of 20 July 2014[update] hospitals in Gaza were ill-equipped and facing severe shortage of various categories of medicine, medical supplies, and fuel.[113] Egypt temporarily reopened the Rafah crossing with Gaza to allow medical supplies to enter, and injured Palestinians to receive treatment in Egypt.[114] Also, due to the operation prices of food, including fish and produce, rose dramatically.[115] A 21 July news report stated that over 83,000 Palestinians had taken shelter in U.N. facilities.[116]
According to the United Nations' Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), as of 31 July 2014 in the Gaza Strip, over 250,000 Palestinians have been displaced, of which 236,375 are taking shelter in 88 UNRWA schools (over eleven percent of the Gazan population). UNRWA has exhausted its capacity to absorb displaced persons, and overcrowding in shelters risks the outbreak of epidemics. 1.8 million people are affected by a halt or reduction of the water supply, 137 schools and 24 health facilities have been damaged, 872 homes have been totally destroyed or severely damaged and homes of 5,005 families have been damaged but are still inhabitable. Throughout the Gaza Strip people receive only 2 hours of electricity per day. The destruction of Gaza’s only power plant had an immediate effect on the public health situation and reduced water and sanitation services, with hospitals becoming dependent on generators.
OCHA estimated that at least 373,000 children require psychosocial support.[18] "Intense overcrowding, compounded by the limited access of humanitarian staff to certain areas, is increasingly undermining the living conditions at many shelters and raising protection concerns. Water supply has been particularly challenging..."[117] Throughout the Gaza Strip people receive only 2 hours of electricity per day. The destruction of Gaza’s only power plant had an immediate on the public health situation and reduced water and sanitation services, with hospitals becoming dependent on generators. And more than 485,000 IDPs are in need of emergency food assistance.[18]
The majority of Israel's Arab population, some twenty percent of the country, are within range of Hamas rockets. This has caused fear among Israeli Arabs that they may be struck by Hamas missiles as one Israeli Arab was killed in a rocket strike. Israeli Arabs' support of the conflict is mixed, many have protested the war and others have identified with the mainstream Israeli position.[121]
At the onset of the operation, the Israeli government canceled all programs within 40 km (24 miles) of Gaza, and requested all people stay at home or near shelter. All summer camps were closed and universities canceled their final exams.[122] Additionally, all gatherings of 300 or more people were banned.[123] Due to the trajectory of rocket fire from Gaza, many flights in and out of Ben-Gurion Airport were delayed or rerouted.[124]
According to Gaza's Health Ministry, thus far 1,822 Palestinians have been killed and 9,400 have been wounded,[15] with 80% of them being civilians.[16] According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 1,717 Palestinians have been killed, 85% being civilians.[18] According to data provided by the Palestinian Health Ministry, 79.7 percent of the Palestinians killed in Gaza are male, with the majority between sixteen and thirty-five.[125]
Over 269,800 people have been displaced who have taken refugee in UNRWA schools. 138 schools and 26 medical facilities were damaged. In addition, over 14,130 homes have been destroyed or damaged by the air strikes.[18][126] The IDF has estimated that about 30–40% of the rockets stockpiled by Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups has been wiped out.[127]
According to the Israeli Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Center, as of 3 August 2014, 407 terrorist operatives, 452 civilians, and 589 unidentified Palestinians have been killed in Gaza.[19] While the Israel–Gaza fighting has gone on, solidarity protests in the West Bank have sporadically occurred as well with violence throughout them, a total of 11 Palestinians dying over the 22–26 July period.[128]
On 30 July, Israeli and Palestinian[citation needed] media outlets reported that thirty civilians from various areas of Gaza had been accused of collaboration with Israel and summarily executed. As well, approximately twenty civilians from Shejaia were said to have been killed during a political protest against Hamas blaming them for the massive destruction inflicted on their neighborhood.[129]
According to Israeli and Palestinian sources some of the rockets that have fallen short have caused some of the Palestinian casualties. Hamas has denied that any of its rockets hit the Gaza Strip.[130]
According to Israeli deputy foreign minister Tzachi Hanegbi, Israel has proof that "at least 47% of the fatalities are terrorists, with photographs and names."[131]
Rocket attacks from Gaza have caused damage to Israeli civilian infrastructure, including factories, gas stations, and homes.[133] According to Magen David Adom there have been injuries to 123 people: 1 seriously, 21 moderately to lightly and 101 from shock.[134]
The first Israeli civilian death occurred at the Erez border crossing with Gaza when a Chabad rabbi, delivering food and drinks on the front line,[135] was hit by mortar fire.[136] The second Israeli civilian killed was a 32-year-old Bedouin Ouda Lafi al-Waj, who was hit by a rocket in the Negev Desert.[137] A Thai migrant worker was also killed by mortar fire while working at a greenhouse in the Ashkelon Coast Regional Council.[138] In addition, an elderly woman in Wadi Nisnas collapsed and died of heart failure during an air-raid siren.[132]
The IDF stated that as of 3 August some 2800 rockets have been fired at Israel since the start of the operation.[20]
Palestinian officials in early August estimated that, with 10,000 homes destroyed and 30,000 partially destroyed by the bombing, the reconstruction of habitations alone will cost $5 billion dollars.[140] The New York Times, noted that damage in this third war was more severe than in the two preceding wars, where in the the aftermath of the earlier Operation Cast Lead the damage inflicted was $4 billion, 3 times the GNP OF Gaza's economy.[141]
A number of tunnels leading into both Israel and Egypt have been destroyed throughout the operation. There are claims that the tunnels between Gaza and Egypt were bringing in an estimated $700 million into Gaza's economy through goods or services. Several Palestinians have argued that these tunnels have been critical to supporting the residents either through the employment they provide or through they goods that they have shipped that are otherwise not available in Gaza.[142] Tunnels between Gaza and Israel serve a purely military purpose.[143]
Demonstration against Operation Protective Edge by Arab Israeli and politically left-wing Israeli youth in Tel Aviv, Israel.
The funeral of Mohammed Abu Khdeir on July 4 was joined by thousands of mourners, and was accompanied by clashes across east Jerusalem occuring throughout the weekend.[146] Tensions were exacerbated by Israeli restrictions on Muslim access to the city's Al-Aqsa Mosque complex, to only men 50 or older.[147] Dozens of protesters burnt tires, threw Molotov cocktails and threw stones at police.[148]
On 21 July, the main commercial street in Nazareth was shuttered, as residents and businesses joined a general strike and staged protests against the two-week-old Israeli offensive in Gaza. There have been other scattered protests elsewhere in Israel. Nearly 700 people were arrested after those protests, rights groups say, including 224 from East Jerusalem. Most were subsequently released, but some face charges.[149]
On Thursday 24 July, more than 15,000 Palestinians marched from Ramallah towards Jerusalem and clashed with the Israeli army until the early hours of Friday, in the largest such demonstration in close to a decade. Israeli security closed Qalandia checkpoint earlier on Thursday to prevent protestors from crossing. Some Palestinians marched towards the checkpoint and hurled stones, shot live ammunition and threw Molotov cocktails at the IDF. The IDF used riot dispersal means that included tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition. At least one protester from Qalandiya refugee camp was killed and 265 people were injured, with five of them in critical condition.[150][151][152]
After clashes on Thursday, 24 July, Palestinian factions in the West Bank declared Friday a "Day of Rage."[151][153] On Friday, clashes began during a demonstration which was held after the midday prayer at a local mosque. Hashem Abu Maria, 45, was shot in the chest. Abu Maria works at the Defense for Children International organization. Two more Palestinians were killed by IDF troops in subsequent clashes.[150] In a separate incident near another protest against the conflict in Gaza, a settler shot dead Khaled Azmi Odeh, 18, and wounded three others near Nablus. In the subsequent escalation the Border police fatally shot another Palestinian, Tayeb Shehadeh.[150]
Similar concerns over antisemitism were raised following protests in other countries as well.[157][158][159]
During a rally in capital of Belgium’s Flemish region one of the speakers were reported to have used a loudspeaker to chant in Arabic “slaughter the Jews."[160]
Police in England have recorded more than 100 antisemitic hate crimes since the start of the Gaza conflict. In Toulouse, France, a man was arrested by local police for throwing fire-bombs at a Jewish community center. The fire-bombs failed to ignite.[161]
Monica Awad, the spokeswoman of the UNICEF, condemned civilian deaths from Israeli airstrikes and accused Israel of targetting women and children, saying that Israeli forces had deliberately killed 296 children in Gaza.[173][174][175][176]
Members of the US Congress have introduced bills condemning Hamas for using human shields.[179][180][undue weight? ]
Using civilian structures to store munitions and launch attacks from is unlawful. However, Amnesty International stated that "Indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks (where the likely number of civilian casualties or damage to civilian property outweighs the anticipated military advantage to be gained) are ... prohibited."[170] It said that "Israel’s relentless air assault on Gaza has seen its forces flagrantly disregard civilian life and property".[187] It has also criticized the shelling of hospitals saying "there can be no justification for targeting medical facilities at any time."[188] Human Rights Watch has said that in many cases "the Israeli military has presented no information to show that it was attacking lawful military objectives or acted to minimize civilian casualties."[189] An investigation by Human Rights Watch found that "in most of the sites we investigated so far (in this conflict) we found no valid military targets".[190]
Some commentators have noted the high population density of Gaza in conjunction with Palestinian military activities and installations being in or near civilian structures;[191][192] they also note that the headquarters of the IDF and Shin Bet, as well as an Israeli military training facility, are located near civilian centers.[191][193][undue weight? ]
Hamas officials have said that human shields have not been used.[39] Gazans have stated that "nobody is safe and nobody can flee anywhere because everywhere is targeted."[116] Many reporters, including from the BBC,[198] the Independent[199] and the Guardian[191] have said that they have found no evidence of Hamas forcing Palestinians to stay and become unwilling human shields.
Amnesty International has reported in a statement that it "does not have evidence at this point" that Palestinian civilians have been intentionally used by Hamas or Palestinian armed groups during the current hostilities to "shield" specific locations or military personnel or equipment from Israeli attacks". It additionally said that "public statements referring to entire areas are not the same as directing specific civilians to remain in their homes as "human shields" for fighters, munitions, or military equipment" and that "even if officials or fighters from Hamas or Palestinian armed groups ... did in fact direct civilians to remain in a specific location in order to shield military objectives ..., all of Israel's obligations to protect these civilians would still apply."[170] Human Rights Watch said many of the attacks on civilian targets appeared to be "disproportionate" and "indiscriminate".[189]
Hamas argued that the warnings were a form of psychological warfare and that people would be equally or more unsafe in the rest of Gaza.[116][205] Amnesty International has said that "although the Israeli authorities claim to be warning civilians in Gaza, a consistent pattern has emerged that their actions do not constitute an “effective warning” under international humanitarian law."[206] Human Rights Watch concurred.[207] Many Gazans, when asked, have told journalists that they remain in their houses simply because they have nowhere else to go.[205] OCHA's spokesman has said, "There is literally no safe place for civilians" in Gaza.[37] Roof knocking has been condemned as unlawful by Amnesty International[204] and Human Rights Watch[167] as well as the United Nations Fact Finding Mission in the 2008 war.
One of the tunnels uncovered in the Gaza Strip, used by Hamas to carry out rocket and cross-border attacks on Israeli soldiers [208]
Human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, have pointed to Hamas's rocket attacks on Israeli cities as violations of international law and war crimes.[166] Palestinian ambassador to the UN Human Rights Council, Ibrahim Khraishi, conceded that Hamas had acted unlawfully by directing missiles at civilians.[209]
Hamas political figure Khaled Mashaal has defended the firing of rockets into Israel, saying that "our victims are civilians and theirs are soldiers".[210]
IDF Artillery Corps fires 155 mm M-109 howitzer gun, 24 July 2014
Israel has targeted many homes in this conflict. Israel asserts that they are homes of suspected Hamas militants or are storing weapons. This has led to many instances of multiple members of the same family being killed in attacks. The New York Times noted that the damage in this operation was higher than in the previous two wars and stated that 60,000 people had been left homeless as a result.[141] The destruction of homes has been condemned by B'Tselem[165] and Human Rights Watch[166][190] and Amnesty International[203] as unlawful, amounting to collective punishment and war crimes.
Israel's foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman stated that UNRWA had turned over some discovered rockets to Hamas.[217] Israel Democracy Institute Vice President, Mordechai Kremnitzer, accused the UNRWA of war crimes for handing over the rockets, while Hebrew University Professor Robbie Sabel stated that the UNRWA "had no legal obligation to hand the rockets over to Israel" and had little other choice in the matter.[218] UNRWA states the armouries had been transferred to local police authorities under the Ramallah national unity government's authority, in accordance with "longstanding UN practice in UN humanitarian operations worldwide".[211][219][220] UN Secretary Ban Ki-moon ordered an investigation.[221]
On 30 July, the IDF said that they had discovered the entrance to a tunnel concealed inside a UNRWA medical clinic in Khan Yunis. The clinic was rigged with explosives, which then exploded and killed three Israeli soldiers.[222] This report was later corrected by the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, the military unit that implements government policies in the Palestinian areas, who later that day stated that despite its UNRWA sign, the site was not registered as belonging to UNRWA.[223]
On 24 July, a UN-run school in Beit Hanoun used to shelter civilians was bombed; 13[228]–16[229] civilians were reported dead and 150 injured. Multiple news outlets reported Israel as responsible for the attack,[230][231][232] According to Israel's investigation, the school courtyard had been hit by a single 'errant' mortar round fired by the Israeli Army but it did not cause any casualties, since the ground was empty at the time.[233][234] UNRWA has rejected the IDF's account, saying an initial shell was followed by several others within minutes. Reporters who visited the school shortly afterwards said damage and debris was consistent with mortar rounds.[235] The Israeli military said the area surrounding the school in Beit Hanoun had turned into a battlefield, and it had asked that the facility be evacuated even before the school was hit. The military said that a four-hour window was given for evacuations. UNRWA disputed that, saying that Israeli military never responded to the agency's urgent requests for a cease-fire.[236][237]
Hamas and other militant organizations are known to store weapons in schools and mosques.[238] The IDF released footage showing the entrance to a warfare tunnel built under the basement of a large mosque in Gaza.[239] UNRWA has condemned Palestinian militants' use of their schools for caching munitions.[240][241] Former Knesset member and Israeli political commentator Uri Avnery has said these practices are identical to those employed by Yishuv Jews in the period when the British ruled Palestine.[242]
On 29 July, Israel bombed Gaza's only power plant, which is estimated to take a year to repair. Between five and eight of the 10 power lines that bring electricity from Israel have been disabled, some by Hamas rocket fire. Amnesty International said the crippling of the power station amounted to "collective punishment of Palestinians".[244][245]
Israel has warned foreign journalists it was not responsible for their safety in the Gaza Strip and they were made to sign a waiver to this effect. Reporters Without Borders has called this contrary to international law.[248][249][250] On 30 July two Palestinian journalists were killed by artillery fire, bringing the total number of journalists killed during the conflict to eight. The International Federation of Journalists condemned the killings and wrote to the UN to "remind the organisation of its international obligation to protect journalists."[251]
Israel has also bombed the radio and TV stations of Hamas, Al-Aqsa, saying that strikes "targeted the propaganda dissemination capabilities used to broadcast the messages of (Hamas') military wing,"[252] Reporters Without Borders condemned the attacks, saying that "an expert committee formed by the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor for the former Yugoslavia, to assess the NATO bombing campaign of 1999, specified that a journalist or media organization is not a legitimate target merely because it broadcasts or disseminates propaganda."[253] The targeting of Palestinian media has earlier (in 2012) been condemned by Human Rights Watch as unlawful.[254]
The Rapture of the Church and The Second coming:
Now we have 2 scenarios which have been heavily contested.
1. The Rapture.
2. The Second Coming.
The Generation and the signs are all for the Second Coming," when Every eye shall see."
The Rapture however has no signs......So this would suggest to my interpretation that the Most Unexpected Event in human history would be the Greatest!
For the Believer the Greatest
For the Unbeliever the Most Terrifying.
Jesus said Himself in Matthew 24 verse 35-36;
35." Heaven and Earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.
36. But of the day and hour no one knows, not even the Angels of Heaven, but My Father only"
Matthew 24 describes various events and has to looked at very carefully to be interpreted. The future events are all written.
My biggest question was why did Jesus say " of the day and hour no one knows, not even the Angels of Heaven, but My Father only."?
I would like to give my opinion which can be contested. After looking at what the Watchers did in the pre-flood Era and the evidence of doomsday sayers, sorcerers, astrologers, numerolgists, psychics, religious men predicting the future, day and hours, God is keeping this Most Historic Event secret, so that His Glory will be His only and noone can share that, not even the Angels.
Some reminders about these predictions: Anyone remember Y2K? or the recent Mayan Calender Prophecy?
What is cool is that God gives us a timeframe, but not the exact date or Hour.
The next question is why? Why are we given the signs of His Second coming but no Sign of the Rapture.
Now, comes the interesting part;
Jerusalem has to come under the Jewish control completely, ie. West and East Jerusalem. Until that is not fulfilled we will have to wait on God.
This for me is the Greatest sign, for the Lord's return.
My opinion is that by 2016 just after or a few months before the Tetrads that fall on the Feast days of the Lord, there will be an upheavel worldwide. In my opinion. the war in Gaza will intensify, causing a UN intervention where each Nation will have to vote for or against Israel.
Jerusalem will have to fall into Israeli hands. Noone can stop that. No Nation can contest with God.
There will however be contention and uproar against Israel.
Those Nations for Israel will be blessed by God Himself, those against will be punished.
You might ask why do I keep bringing this up? Why do I keep on bringing Jerusalem into the picture?
The Answer lies in what God says through the Prophet:
So, now there is no doubt what God Plans.
Nations have been warned.
So when Nations will contest with Israel, over Jerusalem, that is when the Rapture should take place.
The reasoning for this is that the Anti-Christ will be revealed only after the Rapture.
Noone will know who he is until he brings peace to Jerusalem and confirms a peace treaty with Israel, which then signals the 7 year Tribulation period, a period which the world has never witnessed such destruction, deception and devastation.
Minor Recap:
Jesus said in Matthew 24 that this generation shall not pass away.
As we calculated, we have two Generations, one of 50 years the other of 70 years.
1. Israel formed in 1948/49 so 50 years added is 1998/99.
2. Israel got Jerusalem in 1968/69 so 50 years added is 2018/19
3. Israel formed in 1948/49 add 70 years is 2018/19
4. Israel got Jerusalem in 1968/69 add 70 years is 2038/2039.
Scenario 1
So the Generation that sees Jesus comes back will be before 2038/39.
Subtracting the 7 years Tribulation period the only possible scenario now is 2038/39.
Since Jerusalem still is not fully under Jewish Control.
So the Rapture has to take place before 2031/32. This is Pre-Tribulation.
Keeping that in mind we are in 2014. So, within 17/18 years, we should be witnesses to the Rapture. Again there are many theories about the Rapture being pre-trib, mid-trib, and post trib.
Scenario 2
As 2038/39 less 3 and half years of Jacob's trouble 2034/35.
Then The Rapture takes place before 2034/35. Making it Mid -Tribulation.
For further information I hereby post another article from wikipedia:
Rapture is a term in Christian eschatology which refers to the "being caught up" discussed in 1 Thessalonians 4:16, when the "dead in Christ" and "we who are alive and remain" will be "caught up in the clouds" to meet "the Lord in the air".[1]
The term "Rapture" is used in at least two senses. In the pre-tribulation view, a group of people will be left behind on earth after another group literally leaves "to meet the Lord in the air." This is now the most common use of the term, especially among fundamentalist Christians and in the United States.[2] The other, older use of the term "Rapture" is simply as a synonym for the final resurrection generally, without a belief that a group of people is left behind on earth for an extended Tribulation period after the events of 1 Thessalonians 4:17.[3][4][5] This distinction is important as some types of Christianity never refer to "the Rapture" in religious education, but might use the older and more general sense of the word "rapture" in referring to what happens during the final resurrection.[6]
There are many views among Christians regarding the timing of Christ's return (including whether it will occur in one event or two), and various views regarding the destination of the aerial gathering described in 1 Thessalonians 4. Denominations such as Roman Catholics,[7] Orthodox Christians,[8] Lutheran Christians,[9] and Reformed Christians[10] believe in a rapture only in the sense of a general final resurrection, when Christ returns a single time. They do not believe that a group of people is left behind on earth for an extended Tribulation period after the events of 1 Thessalonians 4:17.[11]
Pre-tribulation rapture theology was developed in the 1830s by John Nelson Darby and the Plymouth Brethren,[12] and popularized in the United States in the early 20th century by the wide circulation of the Scofield Reference Bible.[13]
The concept of the rapture, in connection with premillennialism, was expressed by the 17th-century American Puritan father and son Increase and Cotton Mather. They held to the idea that believers would be caught up in the air, followed by judgments on earth, and then the millennium.[21][22] The term rapture was used by Philip Doddridge[23] and John Gill[24] in their New Testament commentaries, with the idea that believers would be caught up prior to judgment on earth and Jesus' second coming.
There exists at least one 18th century and two 19th century pre-tribulation references: in an essay published in 1788 in Philadelphia by the Baptist Morgan Edwards which articulated the concept of a pre-tribulation rapture,[25] in the writings of Catholic priest Emmanuel Lacunza in 1812,[26] and by John Nelson Darby in 1827.[27] Emmanuel Lacunza (1731–1801), a Jesuit priest (under the pseudonym Juan Josafat Ben Ezra), wrote an apocalyptic work entitled La venida del Mesías en gloria y majestad (The Coming of the Messiah in Glory and Majesty). The book appeared first in 1811, 10 years after his death. In 1827 it was translated into English by the Scottish minister Edward Irving.[citation needed]
Dr. Samuel Prideaux Tregelles (1813-1875), a prominent English theologian and biblical scholar, wrote a pamphlet in 1866 tracing the concept of the rapture through the works of John Darby back to Edward Irving.[28]
Although not using the term "rapture", the idea was more fully developed by Edward Irving (1792–1834). In ? (first volume published in 1806) Matthew Henry [29] used the term in his commentary of 1 Thessalonians 4.[30][full citation needed] Irving directed his attention to the study of prophecy and eventually accepted the one-man Antichrist idea of James Henthorn Todd, Samuel Roffey Maitland, Robert Bellarmine, and Francisco Ribera, yet he went a step further. Irving began to teach the idea of a two-phase return of Christ, the first phase being a secret rapture prior to the rise of the Antichrist. According to Irving, “There are three gatherings: – First, of the first-fruits of the harvest, the wise virgins who follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth; next, the abundant harvest gathered afterwards by God; and lastly, the assembling of the wicked for punishment.”[31]
John Nelson Darby first proposed and popularized the pre-tribulation rapture in 1827.[32] This view was accepted among many other Plymouth Brethren movements in England. Darby and other prominent Brethren were part of the Brethren movement which impacted American Christianity, especially with movements and teachings associated with Christian eschatology and fundamentalism, primarily through their writings. Influences included the Bible Conference Movement, starting in 1878 with the Niagara Bible Conference. These conferences, which were initially inclusive of historicist and futurist premillennialism, led to an increasing acceptance of futurist premillennial views and the pre-tribulation rapture especially among Presbyterian, Baptist, and Congregational members.[33] Popular books also contributed to acceptance of the pre-tribulation rapture, including William Eugene Blackstone's book Jesus is Coming, published in 1878,[34] which sold more than 1.3 million copies, and the Scofield Reference Bible, published in 1909 and 1919 and revised in 1967.[35]
The early original Christian church,[36] as well as the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox churches,[37] the Anglican Communion and many Protestant Calvinist denominations, have no tradition of a preliminary return of Christ and reject the doctrine. The Orthodox Church, for example, rejects it because the Protestant doctrine of the rapture depends on a millennial interpretation of prophetic scriptures, rather than an amillennial or postmillennial fashion.[38]
Some proponents of a preliminary rapture believe the doctrine of amillennialism originated with Alexandrian scholars such as Clement and Origen[39] and later became Catholic dogma through Augustine.[40] The church until then held to premillennial views, which see an impending apocalypse from which the church will be rescued after being raptured by the Lord.
Some[who?] pre-tribulation proponents maintain that the earliest known extra-Biblical reference to the pre-tribulation rapture is from a 7th-century tract known as the Apocalypse of Pseudo-Ephraem the Syrian, which says, "For all the saints and Elect of God are gathered, prior to the tribulation that is to come, and are taken to the Lord lest they see the confusion that is to overwhelm the world because of our sins."[41]"[42] However, the interpretation of this writing as supporting a pre-tribulation rapture is debated.[43][44]
The rise in belief in the pre-tribulation rapture is often wrongly attributed to a 15-year old Scottish-Irish girl named Margaret McDonald who was of the first to receive a spiritual baptism under a Pentecostal awakening in Scotland. In 1830 she had a vision of the end times which describes a post-tribulation view of the rapture that was first published in 1840. It was published again in 1861, but two important passages demonstrating a post-tribulation view were removed to encourage confusion concerning the timing of the rapture. The two removed segments were, "This is the fiery trial which is to try us. - It will be for the purging and purifying of the real members of the body of Jesus" and "The trial of the Church is from Antichrist. It is by being filled with the Spirit that we shall be kept".[45]
In 1957 John Walvoord, a theologian at Dallas Theological Seminary, authored a book, The Rapture Question, that gave theological support to the pre-tribulation rapture;[46] this book eventually sold over 65,000 copies. In 1958 J. Dwight Pentecost authored another book supporting the pre-tribulation rapture, Things to Come: A Study in Biblical Eschatology,[47] which sold 215,000 copies.
During the 1970s, belief in the rapture became popular in wider circles, in part due to the books of Hal Lindsey, including The Late Great Planet Earth, which has reportedly sold between 15 million and 35 million copies, and the movie A Thief in the Night, which based its title on the scriptural reference 1 Thessalonians 5:2.[48] Lindsey proclaimed that the rapture was imminent, based on world conditions at the time. The Cold War figured prominently in his predictions of impending Armageddon. Other aspects of 1970s global politics were seen as having been predicted in the Bible. Lindsey suggested, for example, that the seven-headed beast with ten horns, cited in the Book of Revelation, was the European Economic Community, a forebear of the European Union, which between 1981 and 1986 had ten member states; it now has 27 member states.
In 1995 the doctrine of the pre-tribulation rapture was further popularized by Tim LaHaye's Left Behind series of books, which sold tens of millions of copies[49] and were made into several movies.
Amillennialists deny the interpretation of a literal 1,000-year rule of Christ, and as such amillennialism does not necessarily imply much difference between itself and other forms of millennialism besides that denial. However, there is considerable overlap in the beliefs of Amillennialists (including most Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Anglicans, and Lutherans), postmillennialists (including Presbyterians), and historic premillennialists (including some Calvinistic Baptists, among others) with those who hold that the return of Christ will be a single, public event. Those who identify the rapture with the second coming are likely to emphasize mutual similarities between passages of scripture where clouds, trumpets, angels or the archangel, resurrection, and gathering are mentioned. Although some (particularly some amillennialists) may take the rapture to be figurative, rather than literal, these three groups are likely to maintain that the passages regarding the return of Christ describe a single event.
Some[who?] also claim that the "word of the Lord" cited by Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4:15–17 is the Olivet Discourse which Matthew separately describes in Matthew 24:29-31. Although the doctrinal relationship between the rapture and the second coming is the same in these three groups, Historic premillennialists are more likely to use the term "rapture" to clarify their position in distinction from dispensationalists.
While Anglicans have many views, some Anglican commentators, such as N. T. Wright, identify the destination as a specific place on Earth.[51][52] This interpretation may sometimes be connected to Christian environmentalist concerns.[53]
Comparison of Christian tribulation views
In the amillennial and postmillennial views, as well as in the post-tribulation premillennial position, there are no distinctions in the timing of the rapture. These views regard the rapture, as it is described in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, as being either identical to the second coming of Jesus as described in Matthew 24:29-31, or as a meeting in the air with Jesus that immediately precedes his return to the Earth. Within premillennialism, the pre-tribulation position is the predominant view that distinguishes between the rapture and second coming as two events. There are also two minor positions within premillennialism that differ with regard to the timing of the rapture, the mid-tribulation view and the partial-rapture view.[54]
Authors and teachers who support the post-tribulational view include Pat Robertson, Walter R. Martin, John Piper, George E. Ladd,[67] Robert H. Gundry,[68] and Douglas Moo.
The Post-Tribulation view is essentially the position held as well by amillennialists, who view the millennial rule of Christ as allegorical to Christ's rule in the believer through sanctification (II Pet. 3:8) thus precluding literal interpretation of a thousand year period. Amillennialists commonly view the rapture of the Church as one and the same event with the second coming of Christ. Authors who have expressed support for this view include St. Augustine, and the Puritan author of Pilgrim's Progress, John Bunyan.
Any individual or religious group that has dogmatically predicted the day of the rapture, a practise referred to as "date setting", has been thoroughly embarrassed and discredited, as the predicted date of fulfillment has invariably come and gone without event.[69][70] Some of these individuals and groups have offered "correct" target dates, while others have offered excuses and have tried to "correct" their target dates, while simply releasing a reinterpretation of the meaning of the scripture to fit their current predicament, and then explain that although the prediction appeared to have not come true, in reality it had been completely accurate and fulfilled, albeit in a different way than many had expected.
Conversely, many of those who believe that the precise date of the rapture cannot be known, do affirm that the specific time frame that immediately precedes the rapture event can be known. This time frame is often referred to as "the season". The primary section of scripture cited for this position is Matthew 24:32–35; where Jesus is quoted teaching the parable of the fig tree, which is proposed as the key that unlocks the understanding of the general timing of the rapture, as well as the surrounding prophecies listed in the sections of scripture that precede and follow this parable.
Some notable predictions of the date of the rapture include the following:
As you have seen many Predictions have taken place about the Rapture. What people tend to forget is that the God Himself has given us the general timing. There is only one Feast of the Lord that begins of which no man knows the day or hour.
The Feast of Trumpets,which occurs end of September Beginning of October.
Although we do not which date this occurs for the previously discussed reason that:
God will not share this Glorious event with anyone, He does give us the General Time-frame.
After researching the Prophets and the Birth of Jesus according to the Jewish calender,
The only conclusion is that Jesus returns to Earth during the Feast of Trumpets. The Rapture as well occurs during the Feast of Trumpets.
In the first Part I showed that the Rapture of Enoch took place. So this is not an event that is new for the Lord.
What will confuse the Nations is when millions of people are taken away in an instant. No sign, no trace to be found.
One interesting factor to be noted;
1. The Feast of Trumpets falls in September/Beginning October.
2. In the Book of Revelation, A Trumpet sounds when all the saints are Raptured.
3. So if the Mid-Tribulation theory is correct, according to the Jewish Calender, the agreement of peace that the Anti-Christ comes up with has to be signed in the month of April.
Then the 3 and half Years will occur in the Month of September/October exactly on or near the Feast of Trumpets.
In Pre Tribulation, The Rapture would again occur on the Feasts of Trumpets.
After a few months the Anti-Christ would sign the peace agreement.
In my humble Opinion;
God Almighty does not disclose the day or hour so that the devil does not know as well.
Is that why the Anti-Christ shakes his fist at God in anger?
As in the Days of Noah and Lot, people were unrepenting, and haughty.
We can see that in todays society where a man of God is unpopular but a porn star is held in high regard.
Coming back to Prophecy:
1. I truly believe that the Rapture takes place before the 7 year peace agreement.
In my opinion the Anti-christ has already to be on the scene to confirm an agreement of Peace with many Nations, especially Israel.
The only major stumbling block as mentioned before is Jerusalem.
So, when Israel takes back control of Jerusalem completely, the Muslim Nations will be enraged, as the temple mound would also be under Jewish Control.
That would lead all Nations, remember "All Nations" to condemn Israel for that act.
And to be noted is that there is major population of the Muslims in every part of the World that would rise up. It's only natural when the temple Mound is the home of the 3rd most sacred place for Muslims, ie. Dome of the Rock.
Hence God will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling/stumbling/poison for all Nations.
When the rapture occurs and millions of people disappear, just imagine the chaos.
How is it possible to bring about an explanation?
It is the Anti-Christ who will arrange an explanation, through the powers of the devil.
In my opinion in Pre-Trib era the devil is already at work preparing the whole world to believe a lie.
Humanoids posing as aliens maybe? UFO'S? Some use of a bio-chemical weapon maybe? Hollywood is not helping either.
Recent discovery of Nimrod's tomb. Well remember Nimrod? His tomb is supposedly to have been discovered in Egypt. They even claim that his DNA is well preserved.
It would not surprise me if scientists figure a way to recreate him.
Some explanation has to be given and it will be so that the people of the world will believe it........
I don't know exactly what the explanation will be, nor do I wish to speculate. All I know for a fact is that it will be very well recieved and will cause people to calm down.
THE FAILURES OF THE CHURCH
The book of Revelation is quite specific about the failures of each of the churches in Asia.
What is Christianity?
1. Anyone who believes in his heart and confesses with his mouth that Jesus Christ is the true Son of God and died for our sins, and was resurrected on the third day, is the Child of God. Jesus dissolves and forgives all his sins, past, present, future and assures him eternal life and freedom from a second death. It is not by works nor by wealth, but through the mercy and grace of God.
Hence the age where sinners can call on the blood of Christ to be set free by this free gift is called the Age of Dispensation of Grace.
Where Adam had sinned and brought upon the curse of death on all mankind causing a seperation from The Lord Almighty, Jesus reconciles all sinners back to God.
Where blood is the price to pay for sin, whose blood is more precious than that of Jesus? The Son of God who never sinned, has purchased the sinner's sin, thus giving eternal life.
There is only one hope for such a believer in Christ; His return
He is Alive and in Heaven, He is the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, The Mighty One, The Lamb of God, The Lion of Judah, The Holy One, The Son of Man, The Elect One, The Concealed One, The Righteous One, The Savior, The Messiah, The Redeemer, The Friend, The Healer, Our Advocate against the Accussers, The Bright and Shining Morning Star, The High Priest, The Truth, The Light of the World and The Only Way to Attain Reconcilliation with God!
The Lord Almighty requires nothing from us except that we believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths.
He then send's His Holy Spirit that will write His Laws in your Heart.
No Rituals, No money, No Forced Convertion, No wearing talismans, No incense, No sacrfices, No offerings, No fasting, Nothing!!!!!!!
What do we get free you might ask?
1. Our Sins are Forgiven
2. We are Reconciled with God
3. We are Promised Eternal Life in Heaven
4. God will dwell with us, and will never leave us or forsake us.
5. We are promised His Holy Spirit to seal us.
6. We are Promised to be Raptured and escape The Great Tribulation.
7 . We are Promised that we will inherit the Earth
8. We are Promised that we will be Judges of the wicked
9. We are Promised that we will never suffer and our tears will wiped away by God Himself.
10 We are Promised that we will clothed in white robes and recieve justice.
11. We are Promised that we will battle in THE DAY OF THE LORD!.
These are just a few Promises when we call on Jesus.
And if any so-called Christian professes otherwise, he will have His portion with Unbelievers.
For God through His Mercy, Loving Kindness, and Grace gave the Blood of Jesus as a Purchase Price for our Sins that had seperated us from Him.
So who is he to take the glory away from God? No man can claim that. Nor can any Angel.
John 3:16 (probably the most used and most popular verse of the bible) where Jesus says, " For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him, should not perish but have everlasting life."
There are many misconceptions about Christians and the Church. I hope to clarify these for someone who does not know God.
1. I have already explained above who is a Christian. Anyone who believes in his heart and confesses with his mouth that Jesus Christ is the only true Begotten Son of God, who died for our sins and (was resurrected after His crucification) on the 3rd day is a Christian.
Furthermore, Matthew 18; 3 Jesus says" Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven".
I hope this is understood very clearly.
2. Christians are not born. Let it be very clear that Christians are not born. Only those who believe point one are Christians. It is the duty of the parents to preach, teach and pray for their children the ways of God, but ultimately it is the Children who have to decide to believe in Jesus or not. Niether can a husband cover for his wife nor vice-versa. Every Individual will have to decide to enter this personal relationship with Jesus on his own. Hope this is very clear.
3. Catholics who worship Idols, Saints etc are not Christians. God does not have double standards. God will not be mocked. Point one again please. This is Jesus speaking.....so noone can argue this fact. The Cross is not to be worshipped. No image of man, woman, beast or anything earthly is to be worshipped. God is a Spirit.
4. Church is not a place or a building, it is where 2 or more believers congregate.
5. The bible is not meant to be "read". I have encountered many people in my life that told me that there is nothing in the bible, for they have " read" it and have concluded that there is no difference in it as compared to other religious books.
Fine. You can read. Only God can make you understand. And if He has refused you the wisdom to understand, I dare not even try.
6. " There is nothing in the bible where God says not to worship other Gods or follow other religions."
Point one again!
7. " God is one but he has different names"
Another statement which comes across that many Christians don't know how to answer:
Well the answer lies in the following verses:
The second school of thought is that hurricane frequency and intensity wax and wane in a yet-to-be explained cycle, and the current upsurge we're experiencing is simply part of this. Whether the cycle is purely natural, partially attributable to humans or due to some unknown combination of factors is still a matter of debate.
Thirdly, many scientists -- including all of those who served on the International Panel on Climate Change in 2007 -- think hurricanes are steadily increasing in intensity each season. They also think that global warming and other atmospheric anomalies are to some extent responsible for that rise. Perhaps the data is marginally off, perhaps natural cycles do contribute some, but by and large, these experts hypothesize that human-caused climate change is the main culprit for increasingly ferocious storms. That's because one of the three fundamental building blocks for hurricanes are warm ocean temperatures. And using data compiled mainly from 1970 on, many researchers have found correlations between rises in sea-surface temperature and surges in the number of powerfully intense hurricanes [sources: Emanuel, Bals].
One study researched data between 1970 and 2004, and found that while most hurricane patterns fluctuated during that span, the number of very intense storms increased dramatically [source: Webster].
Despite these tantalizing clues, it seems scientists have yet to come to a consensus on much of anything when it comes to hurricane severity. But if the data set is reliable enough, and the cyclical camp is wrong and this isn't just a fierce phase that will eventually pass, the threat of worsening storms coupled with rising sea levels might be enough to make anyone move a little further inland.
Please note; Job 38; 22-23 God speaking and questioning Job
22." Have you entered the treasury of snow, or have you seen the treasury of hail,
23. "Which I have reserved for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war?"
God is talking about the Artic poles.....So how are the poles doing?
Also God is talking about the End of Days("for the day of battle and war"), also called the Tribulation.
Here's another Scientific research article:
Global Warming Puts the Arctic on Thin Ice
Answers to questions about the Arctic's shrinking ice cap and its global significance.
- Why are global warming specialists watching the Arctic so closely?
- What kinds of changes are taking place in the Arctic now?
- How does this dramatic ice melt affect the Arctic?
- Will Arctic ice melt have any effects beyond the polar region?
- Can we do anything to stop global warming?
1. Why are global warming specialists watching the Arctic so closely?
The Arctic is global warming's canary in the coal mine. It's a highly sensitive region, and it's being profoundly affected by the changing climate. Most scientists view what's happening now in the Arctic as a harbinger of things to come.
ince 1979, the size of the summer polar ice cap has shrunk more than 20 percent. (Illustration from NASA)Average temperatures in the Arctic region are rising twice as fast as they are elsewhere in the world. Arctic ice is getting thinner, melting and rupturing. For example, the largest single block of ice in the Arctic, the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf, had been around for 3,000 years before it started cracking in 2000. Within two years it had split all the way through and is now breaking into pieces.
The polar ice cap as a whole is shrinking. Images from NASA satellites show that the area of permanent ice cover is contracting at a rate of 9 percent each decade. If this trend continues, summers in the Arctic could become ice-free by the end of the century.
3. How does this dramatic ice melt affect the Arctic?
The melting of once-permanent ice is already affecting native people, wildlife and plants. When the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf splintered, the rare freshwater lake it enclosed, along with its unique ecosystem, drained into the ocean. Polar bears, whales, walrus and seals are changing their feeding and migration patterns, making it harder for native people to hunt them. And along Arctic coastlines, entire villages will be uprooted because they're in danger of being swamped. The native people of the Arctic view global warming as a threat to their cultural identity and their very survival.
4. Will Arctic ice melt have any effects beyond the polar region?
The effects of global warming on the north are not limited to the Arctic -- higher temperatures are already affecting people, wildlife and landscapes across Alaska. Click on the numbers on this map to see what's happening on the front lines of global warming.
1. Barrow 2. Shismaref 3. Yukon River 4. Wasilla 5. Kenai Peninsula 6. McCall Glacier 7. Fairbanks
(See more Google Earth maps.)Rising temperatures are already affecting Alaska, where the spruce bark beetle is breeding faster in the warmer weather. These pests now sneak in an extra generation each year. From 1993 to 2003, they chewed up 3.4 million acres of Alaskan forest.
Melting glaciers and land-based ice sheets also contribute to rising sea levels, threatening low-lying areas around the globe with beach erosion, coastal flooding, and contamination of freshwater supplies. (Sea level is not affected when floating sea ice melts.) At particular risk are island nations like the Maldives; over half of that nation's populated islands lie less than 6 feet above sea level. Even major cities like Shanghai and Lagos would face similar problems, as they also lie just six feet above present water levels.
Rising seas would severely impact the United States as well. Scientists project as much as a 3-foot sea-level rise by 2100. According to a 2001 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency study, this increase would inundate some 22,400 square miles of land along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States, primarily in Louisiana, Texas, Florida and North Carolina.
A warmer Arctic will also affect weather patterns and thus food production around the world. Wheat farming in Kansas, for example, would be profoundly affected by the loss of ice cover in the Arctic. According to a NASA Goddard Institute of Space Studies computer model, Kansas would be 4 degrees warmer in the winter without Arctic ice, which normally creates cold air masses that frequently slide southward into the United States. Warmer winters are bad news for wheat farmers, who need freezing temperatures to grow winter wheat. And in summer, warmer days would rob Kansas soil of 10 percent of its moisture, drying out valuable cropland.
5. Can we do anything to stop global warming?
So, Earthquakes are intesifying, Hurricanes are intensifying, Artic Icecaps are melting which would result in floods, etc.
Diseases and new strains of Ebola are being found.....Bacteria are becoming resistant.
So all Prophecies are being fulfilled.
My Opinion:
It crossed my mind on various occassions why are these facts not being televised, or shown on a larger scale.
What I find interesting is that sporadic news events do take place but noone seems to put these facts together.
Recently there was an article where American soldiers were to alter their DNA to become Bio-chemical resistant.
There was another article where children, yes children, were going to internet and virtual reality de-addiction centers.
So, to conclude what Jesus said about history repeating itself when the time of His coming will be like the days of Noah and Lot, guess what? We have just proved Him right. Oh, Yes.
So, to add further, Jesus also said that the generation that would see Israel come back to its own land would be the generation that would see His coming as well.
Here I would like to add there are two possiblities which would shake the foundations of everyones faith.
1. Generation being 50 years
2. Generation being being 70 years.
We have also to consider that in 1948/49 and 1968/69 there were 4 blood moons falling on Feast days of the Lord.
1948 Israel was declared to become a State fulfilling Isaiah 66: 7-8.
So if the Generation that sees Christ comes in the heavens is to be calculated then;
A. If we add 50 Years to 1948/49 it becomes 1998/99.
B. If we add 70 Years to 1948/49 it becomes 2018/19.
It is also believed after the 6 day war when Jerusalem came back to Jewish control after 2000 years is actually the correct Generation. By that time many Jews from around the world came back to Israel and started inhabiting and cultivating the land.
In that case we have the following scenarios:
A. 1968/69 add 50 years is 2018/19.
B. 1968/69 add 70 years is 2038/39.
Now again we have 4 blood moons in 2014/15 that fall on the Feasts of The Lord. ie. Passover and Tabernacles.
I have to give credit to Pastor Mark Biltz of discovering this back in 2008.
Please watch his sermons for more information.
Please note when a blood moon falls on a Feast day, this is a sign from God himself that war is impending for Israel. Confirmed again recently when the blood moon fell on April 15th 2014. Just a few days after, the Gaza conflict emerged which is currently going on.
Here is another article from Wikipedia:
(One thing to keep in mind is that no matter which Nation or Nations arise in conflict with Israel, it/they cannot prevail against Israel. God himself protects Israel. It is the apple of His Eye.
No Nation will conquer Israel, No Nation can destroy Israel, and every Nation that is against Israel God Himself will pour His Wrath upon them. God Himself has spoken.
Look at the prophecies in the Chart and go through the verses for verification.
All Nations that are on Israels side will be blessed.
It is interesting to note that Israel-Indo relations grew from 1991. Look at India's prosperity from there on.
So, to all Indian Politicians, it is a imperative to remain in God's grace and strengthen those ties.)
2014 Israel–Gaza conflict
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Gaza–Israel conflict | |||||
  (left) Iron Dome shooting down a rocket from Gaza (right) A bombed Palestinian home | |||||
| |||||
| Belligerents | |||||
 Israel
Supported by: |  Gazan Militias
Supported by: | ||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||
| Benjamin Netanyahu Prime Minister Moshe Ya'alon Defense Minister Benny Gantz Chief of General Staff Amir Eshel Air Force Commander Ram Rothberg Naval Commander Sami Turgeman Southern Commander Mickey Edelstein Gaza Division Yoram Cohen Chief of Shin Bet | Khaled Mashal Leader of Hamas Ismail Haniyeh Deputy chief of Hamas Mohammed Deif Head of Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades Ramadan Shalah Leader of PIJ | ||||
| Units involved | |||||
| Israeli Army Israeli Air Force Israeli Navy Shin Bet | Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades Abu Ali Mustapha Brigades Al-Quds Brigades Al-Nasser Salah al-Deen Brigades | ||||
| Strength | |||||
| 176,500 active personnel[9]445,000 reservists[9] | Al-Qassam Brigades: 10,000[10]-40,000[11] Al-Quds Brigades: ~5,000[12] | ||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||
| Israel: 64 soldiers, 2 civilians and 1 Thai worker killed; 400 soldiers[13] and 23 civilians wounded[14] | Gaza Health Ministry: 1,822 killed and 9,400 wounded[15] (80% civilians)[16]PCHR: 1,888 killed (1,586 civilians)[17] UN OCHA: 1,717 killed (1,176 civilians, 198 militants, 343 unknown)[18] ITIC: 1,438 killed (452 civilians, 407 militants, 589 unknown)[19] IDF: 700–800 militants killed[20] | ||||
According to Emergency Relief Coordinator:[21]
| |||||
On 13 July, the Israeli military reported that more than 1,300 Israeli strikes had taken place on Gaza, while more than 800 rockets had been fired from Gaza into Israel.[30] The next day, 14 July, Egypt announced a cease-fire initiative. The Israeli government accepted the proposal, and temporarily stopped hostilities in the morning of 15 July. However, all Palestinian factions, including Palestinian President Abbas, announced they had not been consulted on the Egyptian initiative and were only informed of the proposal via the media.[31] Hamas rejected it in "its current form", as did other Palestinian factions.[31][32] On 16 July, Hamas and Islamic Jihad offered Israel a 10-year truce, with ten conditions, mostly centered on ending the blockade.[33]
The conflict is the deadliest military operation to have taken place in Gaza since the Second Intifada, though both the exact number of deaths and the percentage of the dead who were militants as opposed to civilians have been in dispute.[34][35] According to the Gaza Health Ministry, at least 1,712 Palestinians were killed and 9,080 were injured, and the dead included 398 children, 207 women, and 74 elderly people.[36] The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimated that 1,176 of 1,717 deaths whose identities they have so far verified, were civilians (85%), of whom 573 were women or children.[18] OCHA's spokesman said "There is literally no safe place for civilians" in Gaza.[37] 64 IDF soldiers have been killed, as well as two Israeli civilians and a Thai worker.[13] The Israel Defense Forces have stated that Hamas has been using civilians as "human shields";[38], which Hamas denied.[39] 44% of the territory of the Gaza Strip has been declared a no-go zone by the Israeli military.[40]
According to OCHA, as of 3 August 2014 in the Gaza Strip, over 485,000 Palestinians had been displaced, of which 269,793 were taking shelter in 90 UNRWA schools. UNRWA has exhausted its capacity to absorb displaced persons, and overcrowding in shelters risks the outbreak of epidemics. 1.8 million people are affected by a halt or reduction of the water supply, 141 schools and 26 health facilities have been damaged, 945 homes (10,690 families) have been totally destroyed or severely damaged and the homes of 5,435 families have been damaged but are still inhabitable. Throughout the Gaza Strip, people receive only 3 hours of electricity per day. The destruction of Gaza’s only power plant had an immediate effect on the public health situation and reduced water and sanitation services, with hospitals becoming dependent on generators. More than 485,000 internally displaced persons are in need of emergency food assistance.[18]
Contents
[hide]- 1 Background
- 2 Operation timeline
- 3 Impact
- 4 Reactions
- 5 Violations of international humanitarian law
- 6 Media coverage
- 7 Name of IDF operation
- 8 See also
- 9 References
- 10 External links
Background
 | The neutrality of this section is disputed. (July 2014) |
Main article: Israeli–Palestinian conflict
Violations of the truce
2005 withdrawal
In the view of The Guardian, the roots of the conflict go back to Ariel Sharon's unilateral withdrawal of Israeli settlements from Gaza in 2005, which, it is argued, was a tactical measure to both gain concessions on the West Bank and postpone a final peace settlement with the Palestinian National Authority, thereby weakening it. Israel remained the occupying power in Gaza,[42] since it retained control of Gaza's borders, its coastal waters, and the movement of Gazans, leaving them without any freedom; this strengthened the PLO’s more militant rivals. Finally, Hamas, which felt less pressure after the disengagement, went on to win the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections, and the conflicts originates from this group's coup of 2007 as a stage for the periodic confrontations.[43] In contrast, Alan Johnson has written in his Telegraph blog that it is a fallacy to blame the conflict on the Gaza blockade and disengagement, quoting Ariel Sharon: "Our goal [in disengaging] is that the Palestinians will be able to live in dignity and freedom in an independent state, and, together with us, enjoy good neighbourly relations."[44]2011 (First Hamas–Fatah reconciliation)
Influenced by the Arab Spring, the gap between Hamas and Fatah was bridged in 2011. Reconciliation talks were accelerated by demonstrations in Ramallah and Gaza. Two Hamas activists in Gaza were killed by IDF when Mahmoud Abbas declared his willingness to travel to Gaza and sign an agreement, although it was stated that it was a response to the launching of a single Qassam rocket, which hit no one.[45] In an interview with CNN, Benjamin Netanyahu declared that the reconciliation talks were calls for Israel's destruction and strongly opposed the idea of a unity government.[46]2012–2013
Both sides have argued that the other side violated the ceasefire agreement from November 2012. In the first three months after the IDF Operation Pillar of Defense, according to Ben White, two mortar shells struck Israeli territory, while four Gazans were shot dead and 91 wounded by Israeli forces. The Israelis, White wrote, fired inside Gazan territory on 63 occasions, made 13 incursions into the Strip, and attacked the Gazan fishing fleet 30 times.[47]Writing in The National Interest, David C. Hendrickson says that in the period after 2012 ceasefire, although there was "intermittent rocket fire from Gaza splinter groups...Hamas kept its fire" and Netanyahu acknowledged in March 2014 that number of rocket attacks from Gaza in the past year was the "lowest in a decade."[48] J.J. Goldberg writes that since the 2012 ceasefire "Hamas hadn’t fired a single rocket...and had largely suppressed fire by smaller jihadi groups."[49]
Israel continued with its blockade. "[c]rossings were repeatedly shut, buffer zones...were reinstated. Imports declined, exports were blocked, and fewer Gazans were given exit permits to Israel and the West Bank."[24]
According to the Middle East Monitor, in the year following the truce, Israel violated the cease-fire nearly 120 times.[50]
According to Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there were 36 rocket attacks in 2013 and 85 in the first five months of 2014.[51] Most of the 85 rockets were fired in March, after the IDF killed 3 members of Islamic Jihad in an operation.[52]
Second Hamas–Fatah reconciliation
On 23 April 2014, Hamas agreed to a reconciliation deal with the other main Palestinian faction, Fatah [26][53] following seven years of division. The Palestinian unity government was sworn in by 2 June 2014[54][55] and Israel announced it would not negotiate any peace deal with the new government and would push punitive measures.[56] Declaring this unity will "strengthen terrorism" a day before the agreement, Benjamin Netanyahu said: "The international community must not embrace it."[57] The European Union, the United Nations, the United States, China, India, Russia and Turkey all agreed to work with the Palestinian unity government.[58][59][60][61] The agreement was likely to have a significant impact on the current round of peace talks between Mahmoud Abbas' Palestinian Authority and Israel, and shortly after the announcement of the agreement, Israel launched an airstrike in the northern Gaza Strip that injured four people, according to medical officials.[55][62] Netanyahu had warned before the deal it would be incompatible with Israeli–Palestinian peace and that Abbas has to choose between peace with Hamas and peace with Israel. When a reconciliation deal was signed opening the way to the appointment of the new government, Netanyahu chaired a security cabinet which voted to authorise Netanyahu to impose unspecified sanctions against the Palestinian Authority.[55] According to Marwan Bishara, senior political analyst at Al Jazeera, Israel hopes to disrupt the Palestinian national unity government between Fatah and Hamas by this operation.[63]Immediate events
.png)
On 30 June, search teams found the bodies of the three missing teenagers near Hebron.[82][83] Israeli authorities appear to have known almost from the outset that the three had been shot almost immediately after the kidnapping,[84][85][86] and according to BBC reporter Jon Donnison, Micky Rosenfeld told him anonymously that Israel police are working on the assumption that the abductors were a lone cell operating independently of the Hamas leadership, although this claim has not been verified.[87] Al-Monitor has reported that the kidnappers were once Hamas-related branch that had gone rogue.[88] A day after the Israeli teens were buried, a Palestinian teenager was kidnapped and murdered.
From 1 May to 11 June 6 rockets and 3 mortar shells were launched from Gaza towards Israel. From the day of the abductions on 12 June through 5 July 117 rockets were launched from Gaza [89] and there were approximately 80 Israeli air strikes on Gaza.[90][91] On the night of 6 July, an Israeli strike killed seven Hamas militants.[26] In response, Hamas' militants increased rocket attacks on Israel.[23] By 7 July, Hamas militants had fired 100 rockets from Gaza at Israeli territory and the Israeli Air Force had bombed several sites in Gaza.[92][93][94] Early on 8 July IAF bombed 50 targets in the Gaza Strip.[95] Israel's military also thwarted a militant infiltration from the sea.[96] That same day, Hamas declared that "all Israelis" had become "legitimate targets"[27][28] and insisted that Israel end all attacks on Gaza, release those re-arrested during the crackdown in the West Bank, lift the blockade on Gaza and return to the cease-fire conditions of 2012 as conditions for a ceasefire.[97]
Operation timeline
Main article: Timeline of the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict
.jpg)
- From 8 to 16 July, the IDF bombarded targets in the Gaza Strip with artillery and airstrikes. Meanwhile, Hamas continued to fire rockets and mortar shells into Israel, many of which were intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome air defense system. By 16 July, the death toll within Gaza had surpassed 200 people.[99]
- On 17 July, a five-hour humanitarian ceasefire, proposed by the UN, took place. After the ceasefire, IDF began a ground offensive on the Gaza Strip. Initially, the focus of the ground operation was on destroying tunnels near the edge of the enclave. The tunnels were used by militants to transport people and materials.
- On 20 July, the Israeli military entered Shuja'iyya, a neighborhood of Gaza City. This was followed by heavy fighting in the neighborhood.
- On 24 July, over 10,000 Palestinians in the West Bank protested against the operation, resulting in at least 2 Palestinian deaths.[100]
- On 25 July, an Israeli airstrike killed Salah Abu Hassanein, the leader of Islamic Jihad's military wing.[101]
- On 26 July, another humanitarian ceasefire took place for twelve hours,[102] followed by a unilateral extension by Israel for another twenty-four hours.[103] The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip topped 1,000.[104]
- The US and UN announced that Israel and Palestinians agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire starting at 8:00 am local time on 1 August. There has been some dispute about the terms of the ceasefire. Israel and the US have stated that the agreement made clear that "[Israel] will continue to do operations to destroy tunnels that pose a threat to Israeli territory that lead from the Gaza Strip into Israel proper as long as those tunnels exist on the Israel side of their lines". Hamas said that it would not accept such a condition.[105][106] The ceasefire broke down almost immediately when it started. Israel and the US have blamed Hamas for violating the ceasefire, which Hamas denies. According to Israel, a group of Israeli soldiers were attacked by Palestinian militants emerging from a tunnel.[107] In the Palestinian version, the IDF was the first to breach the ceasefire when at 8:30 AM it destroyed 19 buildings while undertaking work to demolish tunnels.[106] According to the PLO, the Palestinian Authority and Gaza sources, Hamas attacked an Israeli unit, killing an Israeli officer (Hadar Goldin, who was initially thought to have been captured) while Israeli forces were still engaged in military activities in Rafah on Gaza's territory before the truce came into effect. Tweets reported the battle in Rafah before the deadline for the cease-fire;[106] they also killed two soldiers in a suicide bombing attack.[108] Although senior Hamas leader Moussa Abu Marzouk accused Israel of creating pretexts to undermine the Gaza ceasefire and said that Palestinian fighters abducted the officer and killed the two soldiers before the start of the humanitarian truce,[109] it is widely accepted that the attack took place 90 minutes after the start of the ceasefire.[110][not in citation given]
This article possibly contains original research. - On 3 August, IDF pulled out most of its ground forces from the Gaza Strip after completing the destruction of all 31 known attack tunnels used by Hamas and other militants.[111][20]
Impact
Impact on Gaza residents
.jpg)
According to the United Nations' Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), as of 31 July 2014 in the Gaza Strip, over 250,000 Palestinians have been displaced, of which 236,375 are taking shelter in 88 UNRWA schools (over eleven percent of the Gazan population). UNRWA has exhausted its capacity to absorb displaced persons, and overcrowding in shelters risks the outbreak of epidemics. 1.8 million people are affected by a halt or reduction of the water supply, 137 schools and 24 health facilities have been damaged, 872 homes have been totally destroyed or severely damaged and homes of 5,005 families have been damaged but are still inhabitable. Throughout the Gaza Strip people receive only 2 hours of electricity per day. The destruction of Gaza’s only power plant had an immediate effect on the public health situation and reduced water and sanitation services, with hospitals becoming dependent on generators.
OCHA estimated that at least 373,000 children require psychosocial support.[18] "Intense overcrowding, compounded by the limited access of humanitarian staff to certain areas, is increasingly undermining the living conditions at many shelters and raising protection concerns. Water supply has been particularly challenging..."[117] Throughout the Gaza Strip people receive only 2 hours of electricity per day. The destruction of Gaza’s only power plant had an immediate on the public health situation and reduced water and sanitation services, with hospitals becoming dependent on generators. And more than 485,000 IDPs are in need of emergency food assistance.[18]
Impact on Israeli residents
Hamas and other Islamist groups in Gaza have fired rockets and mortars at Israeli towns and villages. Despite Israel's use of the Iron Dome missile defense systems, at least 3 civilians were killed including a Jewish Israeli, an Arab Israeli and a Thai worker.[118] An Israeli teen was seriously injured in a rocket strike in the city of Ashkelon.[119] Medical health professionals have noted that Israeli teens prone to mental health problems are noted to suffer increasingly during both short term and long term conflicts. Experts have identified a number of mental health symptoms which rise during conflict especially anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, interpersonal sensitivity, phobias, and paranoia. There is some doubt whether these issues will dissipate after the conflict is resolved.[120]The majority of Israel's Arab population, some twenty percent of the country, are within range of Hamas rockets. This has caused fear among Israeli Arabs that they may be struck by Hamas missiles as one Israeli Arab was killed in a rocket strike. Israeli Arabs' support of the conflict is mixed, many have protested the war and others have identified with the mainstream Israeli position.[121]
At the onset of the operation, the Israeli government canceled all programs within 40 km (24 miles) of Gaza, and requested all people stay at home or near shelter. All summer camps were closed and universities canceled their final exams.[122] Additionally, all gatherings of 300 or more people were banned.[123] Due to the trajectory of rocket fire from Gaza, many flights in and out of Ben-Gurion Airport were delayed or rerouted.[124]
Casualties and losses
Palestinian
Further information: List of Israeli strikes and Palestinian casualties in Operation Protective Edge
Number of Palestinians killed in Gaza, per various sources:| Source | Total Killed | Civilians Killed | Combatants Killed | Unidentified Killed | Last Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gaza Health Ministry | 1,822 | 1,458 | 364 | — | 4 August[15][16] |
| Palestinian Centre for Human Rights | 1,888 | 1,586 | 302 | — | 4 August[17] |
| United Nations | 1,717 | 1,176 | 198 | 343 | 3 August[18] |
| Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center | 1,438 | 452 | 407 | 589 | 3 August[19] |
| Israel Defense Forces | 1,500–1,600 | 800 | 700–800 | – | 2 August[20] |
Over 269,800 people have been displaced who have taken refugee in UNRWA schools. 138 schools and 26 medical facilities were damaged. In addition, over 14,130 homes have been destroyed or damaged by the air strikes.[18][126] The IDF has estimated that about 30–40% of the rockets stockpiled by Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups has been wiped out.[127]
According to the Israeli Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Center, as of 3 August 2014, 407 terrorist operatives, 452 civilians, and 589 unidentified Palestinians have been killed in Gaza.[19] While the Israel–Gaza fighting has gone on, solidarity protests in the West Bank have sporadically occurred as well with violence throughout them, a total of 11 Palestinians dying over the 22–26 July period.[128]
On 30 July, Israeli and Palestinian[citation needed] media outlets reported that thirty civilians from various areas of Gaza had been accused of collaboration with Israel and summarily executed. As well, approximately twenty civilians from Shejaia were said to have been killed during a political protest against Hamas blaming them for the massive destruction inflicted on their neighborhood.[129]
According to Israeli and Palestinian sources some of the rockets that have fallen short have caused some of the Palestinian casualties. Hamas has denied that any of its rockets hit the Gaza Strip.[130]
According to Israeli deputy foreign minister Tzachi Hanegbi, Israel has proof that "at least 47% of the fatalities are terrorists, with photographs and names."[131]
Israeli
Further information: List of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel, 2014
Since the start of the conflict, 64 IDF soldiers have been killed, as well as two Israeli civilians and a Thai worker.[13] One person has also died due to natural causes brought on by the conflict.[132]Rocket attacks from Gaza have caused damage to Israeli civilian infrastructure, including factories, gas stations, and homes.[133] According to Magen David Adom there have been injuries to 123 people: 1 seriously, 21 moderately to lightly and 101 from shock.[134]
The first Israeli civilian death occurred at the Erez border crossing with Gaza when a Chabad rabbi, delivering food and drinks on the front line,[135] was hit by mortar fire.[136] The second Israeli civilian killed was a 32-year-old Bedouin Ouda Lafi al-Waj, who was hit by a rocket in the Negev Desert.[137] A Thai migrant worker was also killed by mortar fire while working at a greenhouse in the Ashkelon Coast Regional Council.[138] In addition, an elderly woman in Wadi Nisnas collapsed and died of heart failure during an air-raid siren.[132]
The IDF stated that as of 3 August some 2800 rockets have been fired at Israel since the start of the operation.[20]
Financial impact
Israel's Minister of Finance estimated that the operation would cost NIS 8.5 billion (approximately 2.5 billion USD), which is similar to Operation Cast Lead in 2009 and higher than Operation Pillar of Defense in 2012. The forecast included military and non-military costs, including military expenditure and property damage. The calculation indicates that if the operation lasts 20 days, the loss in GDP will be 0.4%.[139]Palestinian officials in early August estimated that, with 10,000 homes destroyed and 30,000 partially destroyed by the bombing, the reconstruction of habitations alone will cost $5 billion dollars.[140] The New York Times, noted that damage in this third war was more severe than in the two preceding wars, where in the the aftermath of the earlier Operation Cast Lead the damage inflicted was $4 billion, 3 times the GNP OF Gaza's economy.[141]
A number of tunnels leading into both Israel and Egypt have been destroyed throughout the operation. There are claims that the tunnels between Gaza and Egypt were bringing in an estimated $700 million into Gaza's economy through goods or services. Several Palestinians have argued that these tunnels have been critical to supporting the residents either through the employment they provide or through they goods that they have shipped that are otherwise not available in Gaza.[142] Tunnels between Gaza and Israel serve a purely military purpose.[143]
Reactions
Main article: Reactions to the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict
The conflict has received reactions from both states and organizations, some supporting Israel's actions, some condemning it, and others condemning both Israel and Hamas and urging them to stop violence. Meanwhile, a majority of Israelis support the Operation Protective Edge.[144][145] Separately, commercial aviation in several countries banned flights to Israel.
Protests in Israel and the West Bank
On 21 July, the main commercial street in Nazareth was shuttered, as residents and businesses joined a general strike and staged protests against the two-week-old Israeli offensive in Gaza. There have been other scattered protests elsewhere in Israel. Nearly 700 people were arrested after those protests, rights groups say, including 224 from East Jerusalem. Most were subsequently released, but some face charges.[149]
On Thursday 24 July, more than 15,000 Palestinians marched from Ramallah towards Jerusalem and clashed with the Israeli army until the early hours of Friday, in the largest such demonstration in close to a decade. Israeli security closed Qalandia checkpoint earlier on Thursday to prevent protestors from crossing. Some Palestinians marched towards the checkpoint and hurled stones, shot live ammunition and threw Molotov cocktails at the IDF. The IDF used riot dispersal means that included tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition. At least one protester from Qalandiya refugee camp was killed and 265 people were injured, with five of them in critical condition.[150][151][152]
After clashes on Thursday, 24 July, Palestinian factions in the West Bank declared Friday a "Day of Rage."[151][153] On Friday, clashes began during a demonstration which was held after the midday prayer at a local mosque. Hashem Abu Maria, 45, was shot in the chest. Abu Maria works at the Defense for Children International organization. Two more Palestinians were killed by IDF troops in subsequent clashes.[150] In a separate incident near another protest against the conflict in Gaza, a settler shot dead Khaled Azmi Odeh, 18, and wounded three others near Nablus. In the subsequent escalation the Border police fatally shot another Palestinian, Tayeb Shehadeh.[150]
Rise in antisemitism
A number of pro-Palestinian protests in Europe have turned to violence against the local Jewish communities. In a number of instances the demonstrators called for the death of Jews and attacked Jews and Jewish-owned property. These actions raised concerns over antisemitism and the safety of Jews in European countries.[154][155][156]Similar concerns over antisemitism were raised following protests in other countries as well.[157][158][159]
During a rally in capital of Belgium’s Flemish region one of the speakers were reported to have used a loudspeaker to chant in Arabic “slaughter the Jews."[160]
Police in England have recorded more than 100 antisemitic hate crimes since the start of the Gaza conflict. In Toulouse, France, a man was arrested by local police for throwing fire-bombs at a Jewish community center. The fire-bombs failed to ignite.[161]
Attacks on synagogues
A number of synagogues have been targeted by pro-Palestinian protesters. Following a demonstration in Paris, protesters attempted to break into nearby synagogues. Six police officers and two Jewish residents were injured during the scuffle.[162] In Belfast, Northern Ireland, bricks were thrown through the windows of a local synagogue on two successive nights.[161] And a synagogue in Miami, Florida, was vandalized with graffiti; swastikas and the word "Hamas" were painted on the building. [163][164]Violations of international humanitarian law
Further information: International law and the Arab–Israeli conflict
A number of legal issues concerning the conflict have arisen during course of the fighting. Various human rights groups have argued that both Palestinian rocket attacks and Israeli targeted destruction of homes of Hamas and other militia members violate international humanitarian law and might constitute war crimes, violations of international humanitarian law.[165][166][167] Navi Pillay, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, criticized Israel's military operation stating that there was "a strong possibility that international law has been violated, in a manner that could amount to war crimes". She specifically criticized Israel's actions in Gaza as disproportionate.[168] She also condemned indiscriminate rocket attacks by Palestinian armed groups. On 23 July, the United Nations Human Rights Council voted to establish an inquiry into human rights violations.[169]Civilian deaths
Many of those killed have been civilians, prompting concern from many humanitarian organisations. Amnesty International stated that: "Israeli forces have carried out attacks that have killed hundreds of civilians, including through the use of precision weaponry such as drone-fired missiles, and attacks using munitions such as artillery, which cannot be precisely targeted, on very densely populated residential areas, such as Shuja’iyyeh. They have also directly attacked civilian objects."[170] Nine people were killed while watching the World Cup in a cafe,[171] and 8 members of a family died that Israel has said were inadvertently killed.[172]Monica Awad, the spokeswoman of the UNICEF, condemned civilian deaths from Israeli airstrikes and accused Israel of targetting women and children, saying that Israeli forces had deliberately killed 296 children in Gaza.[173][174][175][176]
Human shields
Israel has argued that many civilian casualties were the result of Hamas using the Gazan population as 'human shields' at rocket launch targets.[177] The statements fall in two categories: using civilian structures like homes, mosques and hospitals to store munitions in or launch rockets from,[178] and urging or forcing civilian population to stay in their homes, so as to shield militants.Members of the US Congress have introduced bills condemning Hamas for using human shields.[179][180][undue weight? ]
Use of civilian structures for military purposes
Israel has stated that many mosques, schools and hospitals have been used to store weapons. UNRWA has discovered rockets in three of its vacant schools (see section below). There have been reports of the use of mosques to store weapons,[181] and having launch sites very close to civilian structures.[182] A Finnish reporter from Helsingin Sanomat reported seeing rockets fired from near the Gaza Al-Shifa hospital.[183] Some journalists have stated that Hamas has been intimidating those who wish to report human shield use[184] and others have cited a French correspondent's account of intimidation by Hamas to support such statements.[184][185][186]Using civilian structures to store munitions and launch attacks from is unlawful. However, Amnesty International stated that "Indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks (where the likely number of civilian casualties or damage to civilian property outweighs the anticipated military advantage to be gained) are ... prohibited."[170] It said that "Israel’s relentless air assault on Gaza has seen its forces flagrantly disregard civilian life and property".[187] It has also criticized the shelling of hospitals saying "there can be no justification for targeting medical facilities at any time."[188] Human Rights Watch has said that in many cases "the Israeli military has presented no information to show that it was attacking lawful military objectives or acted to minimize civilian casualties."[189] An investigation by Human Rights Watch found that "in most of the sites we investigated so far (in this conflict) we found no valid military targets".[190]
Some commentators have noted the high population density of Gaza in conjunction with Palestinian military activities and installations being in or near civilian structures;[191][192] they also note that the headquarters of the IDF and Shin Bet, as well as an Israeli military training facility, are located near civilian centers.[191][193][undue weight? ]
Urging or forcing civilians to stay in their homes
IDF has released photographs purportedly showing civilians on rooftops of buildings and a video of Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri saying, "The fact that people are willing to sacrifice themselves against Israeli warplanes in order to protect their homes, I believe this strategy is proving itself".[190][192][194][195][196][197]Hamas officials have said that human shields have not been used.[39] Gazans have stated that "nobody is safe and nobody can flee anywhere because everywhere is targeted."[116] Many reporters, including from the BBC,[198] the Independent[199] and the Guardian[191] have said that they have found no evidence of Hamas forcing Palestinians to stay and become unwilling human shields.
Amnesty International has reported in a statement that it "does not have evidence at this point" that Palestinian civilians have been intentionally used by Hamas or Palestinian armed groups during the current hostilities to "shield" specific locations or military personnel or equipment from Israeli attacks". It additionally said that "public statements referring to entire areas are not the same as directing specific civilians to remain in their homes as "human shields" for fighters, munitions, or military equipment" and that "even if officials or fighters from Hamas or Palestinian armed groups ... did in fact direct civilians to remain in a specific location in order to shield military objectives ..., all of Israel's obligations to protect these civilians would still apply."[170] Human Rights Watch said many of the attacks on civilian targets appeared to be "disproportionate" and "indiscriminate".[189]
Warnings by Israel
In many cases IDF warned civilians prior to targeting militants in highly populated areas in order to comply with international law.[167][200][201][202] Human rights organizations including Amnesty International,[203][204] have confirmed that in many cases, Palestinians received warnings prior to evacuation, including flyers, phone calls and roof knocking. In many cases, Palestinians have evacuated and in others, they have stayed in their homes. Israel has condemned Hamas for the group's encouragement of Palestinians to remain in their homes despite warnings in advance of airstrikes.[116]Hamas argued that the warnings were a form of psychological warfare and that people would be equally or more unsafe in the rest of Gaza.[116][205] Amnesty International has said that "although the Israeli authorities claim to be warning civilians in Gaza, a consistent pattern has emerged that their actions do not constitute an “effective warning” under international humanitarian law."[206] Human Rights Watch concurred.[207] Many Gazans, when asked, have told journalists that they remain in their houses simply because they have nowhere else to go.[205] OCHA's spokesman has said, "There is literally no safe place for civilians" in Gaza.[37] Roof knocking has been condemned as unlawful by Amnesty International[204] and Human Rights Watch[167] as well as the United Nations Fact Finding Mission in the 2008 war.
Rocket attacks on Israeli civilians
.jpg)
Hamas political figure Khaled Mashaal has defended the firing of rockets into Israel, saying that "our victims are civilians and theirs are soldiers".[210]
Destruction of homes
a.jpg)
United Nations
The UN agency UNRWA has a number of institutions and schools in the Gaza region, and as of 24 July 23 had been closed, 77 damaged in the fighting and three Palestinian UNRWA employees killed, two at home and a third while walking home from his work place. Hamas took advantage of the closures to employ some of these vacant UNRWA buildings as weapon storage sites.[211] UNRWA officials, on discovering that three [212][213] such vacated schools had been employed for storing rockets, condemned Hamas's actions, calling it a "flagrant violation of the neutrality of our premises."[214][215][216]Israel's foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman stated that UNRWA had turned over some discovered rockets to Hamas.[217] Israel Democracy Institute Vice President, Mordechai Kremnitzer, accused the UNRWA of war crimes for handing over the rockets, while Hebrew University Professor Robbie Sabel stated that the UNRWA "had no legal obligation to hand the rockets over to Israel" and had little other choice in the matter.[218] UNRWA states the armouries had been transferred to local police authorities under the Ramallah national unity government's authority, in accordance with "longstanding UN practice in UN humanitarian operations worldwide".[211][219][220] UN Secretary Ban Ki-moon ordered an investigation.[221]
On 30 July, the IDF said that they had discovered the entrance to a tunnel concealed inside a UNRWA medical clinic in Khan Yunis. The clinic was rigged with explosives, which then exploded and killed three Israeli soldiers.[222] This report was later corrected by the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, the military unit that implements government policies in the Palestinian areas, who later that day stated that despite its UNRWA sign, the site was not registered as belonging to UNRWA.[223]
2014 Israel raids on UNRWA facilities
Main article: 2014 Israel raids on UNRWA schools
Approximately 170 UNRWA-run schools are being used as temporary shelters for some 117,000 Palestinians.[224] UNRWA shelters have been bombed by Israel on six separate occasions.[225] Some of these schools sustained damage or were destroyed during the conflict. In at least one instance the source of the bombing is disputed.[226][227]On 24 July, a UN-run school in Beit Hanoun used to shelter civilians was bombed; 13[228]–16[229] civilians were reported dead and 150 injured. Multiple news outlets reported Israel as responsible for the attack,[230][231][232] According to Israel's investigation, the school courtyard had been hit by a single 'errant' mortar round fired by the Israeli Army but it did not cause any casualties, since the ground was empty at the time.[233][234] UNRWA has rejected the IDF's account, saying an initial shell was followed by several others within minutes. Reporters who visited the school shortly afterwards said damage and debris was consistent with mortar rounds.[235] The Israeli military said the area surrounding the school in Beit Hanoun had turned into a battlefield, and it had asked that the facility be evacuated even before the school was hit. The military said that a four-hour window was given for evacuations. UNRWA disputed that, saying that Israeli military never responded to the agency's urgent requests for a cease-fire.[236][237]
Militant use of schools, mosques, hospitals
 | This article duplicates, in whole or part, the scope of other article(s) or section(s), specifically, 2014_Israel–Gaza_conflict#Human_shields and 2014_Israel–Gaza_conflict#United_Nations. (August 2014) |
Infrastructure
On 23, 12 July human rights organizations in Israel released a letter to Israeli govt. warning that "Gaza Strip's civilian infrastructure is collapsing".[243] They noted that "due to Israel’s ongoing control over significant aspects of life in Gaza, Israel has a legal obligation to ensure that the humanitarian needs of the people of Gaza are met and that they have access to adequate supplies of water and electricity." They note that many water and electricity systems were damaged during the conflict, which has led to a "pending humanitarian and environmental catastrophe".On 29 July, Israel bombed Gaza's only power plant, which is estimated to take a year to repair. Between five and eight of the 10 power lines that bring electricity from Israel have been disabled, some by Hamas rocket fire. Amnesty International said the crippling of the power station amounted to "collective punishment of Palestinians".[244][245]
Attacks on journalists
Israeli officials have stated that Hamas is threatening reporters in Gaza critical of Hamas with retaliation.[246][247]Israel has warned foreign journalists it was not responsible for their safety in the Gaza Strip and they were made to sign a waiver to this effect. Reporters Without Borders has called this contrary to international law.[248][249][250] On 30 July two Palestinian journalists were killed by artillery fire, bringing the total number of journalists killed during the conflict to eight. The International Federation of Journalists condemned the killings and wrote to the UN to "remind the organisation of its international obligation to protect journalists."[251]
Israel has also bombed the radio and TV stations of Hamas, Al-Aqsa, saying that strikes "targeted the propaganda dissemination capabilities used to broadcast the messages of (Hamas') military wing,"[252] Reporters Without Borders condemned the attacks, saying that "an expert committee formed by the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor for the former Yugoslavia, to assess the NATO bombing campaign of 1999, specified that a journalist or media organization is not a legitimate target merely because it broadcasts or disseminates propaganda."[253] The targeting of Palestinian media has earlier (in 2012) been condemned by Human Rights Watch as unlawful.[254]
Media coverage
Main article: Media coverage of the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict
Portrayals of the conflict have varied much in different media outlets. U.S. news sources were often more sympathetic to Israel while British news sources featured more criticism of Israel.[255] Commentators on both sides have claimed that the media is biased either for or against Israel.[256] According to The Times of Israel, British sources were more often critical of Israel.[255] As the conflict progressed and Palestinian deaths increased, media became somewhat more critical of Israel.[257] Within Israel, the newspaper Haaretz issued an editorial stating that the "soft Gaza sand... could turn into quicksand" for the Israeli military and also warned about the "wholesale killing" of Palestinian civilians. The article declared: "There can be no victory here".[258] The campaign in the Palestinian territories has received much coverage around the world.[citation needed] Both sides are waging propaganda war.[259]Name of IDF operation
The IDF's official English translation of the name of the military campaign is "Operation Protective Edge", but a literal translation of the operation's name (Hebrew: מִבְצָע צוּק אֵיתָן, Mivtza Tzuk Eitan) is "Operation Firm Cliff", and the IDF's official Arabic translation in English is "Operation Resolute Cliff".[260] More loosely translated, the name is "Operation Solid Rock" or "Operation Mighty Cliff".[261][262] According to the Turkish Anadolu Agency, an Israeli military spokesman for Arab Media, Avichay Adraee, explained that the change of the operation's name in English was done to "give a more 'defensive' connotation".[263]See also
The Rapture of the Church and The Second coming:
Now we have 2 scenarios which have been heavily contested.
1. The Rapture.
2. The Second Coming.
The Generation and the signs are all for the Second Coming," when Every eye shall see."
The Rapture however has no signs......So this would suggest to my interpretation that the Most Unexpected Event in human history would be the Greatest!
For the Believer the Greatest
For the Unbeliever the Most Terrifying.
Jesus said Himself in Matthew 24 verse 35-36;
35." Heaven and Earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.
36. But of the day and hour no one knows, not even the Angels of Heaven, but My Father only"
Matthew 24 describes various events and has to looked at very carefully to be interpreted. The future events are all written.
My biggest question was why did Jesus say " of the day and hour no one knows, not even the Angels of Heaven, but My Father only."?
I would like to give my opinion which can be contested. After looking at what the Watchers did in the pre-flood Era and the evidence of doomsday sayers, sorcerers, astrologers, numerolgists, psychics, religious men predicting the future, day and hours, God is keeping this Most Historic Event secret, so that His Glory will be His only and noone can share that, not even the Angels.
Some reminders about these predictions: Anyone remember Y2K? or the recent Mayan Calender Prophecy?
What is cool is that God gives us a timeframe, but not the exact date or Hour.
The next question is why? Why are we given the signs of His Second coming but no Sign of the Rapture.
Now, comes the interesting part;
Jerusalem has to come under the Jewish control completely, ie. West and East Jerusalem. Until that is not fulfilled we will have to wait on God.
This for me is the Greatest sign, for the Lord's return.
My opinion is that by 2016 just after or a few months before the Tetrads that fall on the Feast days of the Lord, there will be an upheavel worldwide. In my opinion. the war in Gaza will intensify, causing a UN intervention where each Nation will have to vote for or against Israel.
Jerusalem will have to fall into Israeli hands. Noone can stop that. No Nation can contest with God.
There will however be contention and uproar against Israel.
Those Nations for Israel will be blessed by God Himself, those against will be punished.
You might ask why do I keep bringing this up? Why do I keep on bringing Jerusalem into the picture?
The Answer lies in what God says through the Prophet:
Parallel Verses
New International Version
"I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling. Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem. New Living Translation I will make Jerusalem like an intoxicating drink that makes the nearby nations stagger when they send their armies to besiege Jerusalem and Judah. English Standard Version “Behold, I am about to make Jerusalem a cup of staggering to all the surrounding peoples. The siege of Jerusalem will also be against Judah. New American Standard Bible "Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the peoples around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah. King James Bible Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. Holman Christian Standard Bible Look, I will make Jerusalem a cup that causes staggering for the peoples who surround the city. The siege against Jerusalem will also involve Judah. International Standard Version Look, I am making Jerusalem an unstable cup toward all of its surrounding armies when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. NET Bible "I am about to make Jerusalem a cup that brings dizziness to all the surrounding nations; indeed, Judah will also be included when Jerusalem is besieged. GOD'S WORD® Translation "I'm going to make Jerusalem like a cup [of wine] that makes all the surrounding people stagger. They will attack Judah along with Jerusalem. Jubilee Bible 2000 Behold, I place Jerusalem as a cup of poison unto all the peoples round about and also unto those of Judah who shall be in the siege against Jerusalem. King James 2000 Bible Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. American King James Version Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling to all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. American Standard Version behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of reeling unto all the peoples round about, and upon Judah also shall it be in the siege against Jerusalem. Douay-Rheims Bible Behold I will make Jerusalem a lintel of surfeiting to all the people round about: and Juda also shall be in the siege against Jerusalem. Darby Bible Translation Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of bewilderment unto all the peoples round about, and also against Judah shall it be in the siege against Jerusalem. English Revised Version behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of reeling unto all the peoples round about, and upon Judah also shall it be in the siege against Jerusalem. Webster's Bible Translation Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling to all the people around, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. World English Bible "Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of reeling to all the surrounding peoples, and on Judah also will it be in the siege against Jerusalem. Young's Literal Translation Lo, I am making Jerusalem a cup of reeling To all the peoples round about, And also against Judah it is, In the siege against Jerusalem.
Parallel Commentaries
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary12:1-8 Here is a Divine prediction, which will be a heavy burden to all the enemies of the church. But it is for Israel; for their comfort and benefit. It is promised that God will make foolish the counsels, and weaken the courage of the enemies of the church. The exact meaning is not clear; but God often begins by calling the poor and despised; and in that day even the feeblest will resemble David, and be as eminent in courage and every thing good. Desirable indeed is it that the examples and labours of Christians should render them as fire among wood, as a torch in a sheaf, to kindle the flame of Divine love, to spread religion on the right hand and on the left. Pulpit Commentary Verse 2. - A cup of trembling; a bowl of reeling - a bowl whose contents cause staggering and reeling, ὡς πρόθυρα σαλευόμενα, "as tottering porticoes" (Septuagint); superliminare crapulae (Vulgate). This Jerome explains to mean that any one who crosses the threshold of Jerusalem in hostile guise shall totter and fall. Jerusalem is the capital and type of the Messianic theocracy; the hostile powers of the world crowd round her, like thirsting men round a bowl of wine; but they find the drought is fatal to them; they stagger back discomfited and destroyed. The figure of the cup and drunkenness is often employed to denote the judgment of God upon transgressors, which makes them incapable of defence or escape (comp. Isaiah 51:17; Jeremiah 25:15, etc.; Jeremiah 51:39, 57; Habakkuk 2:16). The people; the peoples (so vers. 3, 4, 6). The heathen nations who war against God's people. When they shall be in the siege, etc. This gives a good sense, but the Hebrew will not allow it. Septuagint, Ἐν τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ ἔσται περιοχὴ ἐπὶ Ἱερουσαλήμ, "In Judaea there shall be a blockade against Jerusalem;" Vulgate, Sed et Juda erit in obsidione contra Jerusalem, which may mean that Judah shall be among those that besiege Jerusalem, or when Jerusalem is beset Judah shall suffer the same calamity. Pusey and Revised Version render, "And upon Judah also shall it [i.e. 'the burden'] be in the siege against Jerusalem." Cheyne, "And also on [or, 'over '] Judah it [i.e. the protection and deliverance implied in the first clause of the verse] shall be, in the siege," etc. Any interpretation of the passage which makes Judah join with the enemy in attacking Jerusalem is precluded by the very intimate union between Judah and Jerusalem denoted in vers. 4-7, and by the hostility of the nations against Judah. Cheyne's explanation is hardly a natural one, however suitable. Lowe ('Hebr. Stud. Comm.') renders, "And also on Judah [shall fall this reeling] during the siege [which is to take place] against Jerusalem." It seems best to render, with Alexander, "Also against Judah shall it be in the siege against Jerusalem," i.e. not only the mother city, but all the country, shall be exposed to hostile invasion. This suits ver. 5, where the chieftains of Judah are represented as trusting in the valour of the inhabitants of Jerusalem when they are incurring the same danger. Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about,.... The Targum renders it, "a vessel full of inebriating liquor;'' which intoxicates and makes giddy, and causes to tremble, stagger, and fall like a drunken man. The phrase denotes the punishment inflicted by the Lord upon the enemies of his church and people; see Isaiah 51:22, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem; not by Antiochus Epiphanes; nor by Titus Vespasian; nor by Gog and Magog, as Kimchi; but by the antichristian powers, especially the Mahometan nations, the Turks, which shall come against Jerusalem, when the Jews are returned thither, and resettled in their own land; see Ezekiel 38:5. The words should be rendered, "and upon Judah shall it be" (y), i.e. the cup of trembling, "in the siege against Jerusalem"; according to the Targum, and the Jewish commentators, the nations of the earth shall bring the men of Judah by force to join with them in the siege of Jerusalem; as, in the times of Antiochus, many of the Jews were drawn in to fight against their brethren; but the meaning is, that not only the wrath of God will come upon the Mahometan nations that shall besiege Jerusalem; but also on those who bear the Christian name, who are Jews outwardly, but not inwardly; and shall join with the Turks in distressing the people of the Jews upon their return to their own land: to besiege Judah, or a country, is not proper and pertinent: Jerusalem, when again in the hands of the Jews, according to this prophecy, only is to be besieged, as it will, by the Turks; and it should be observed, that it never was besieged by Antiochus, and therefore the prophecy can not be applied to his times, as it is by many. (y) "et etiam super Jehudah erit", Pagninus, Montanus, Burkius. Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary 2. cup of trembling—a cup causing those who drink it to reel (from a Hebrew root "to reel"). Jerusalem, who drank the "cup of trembling" herself, shall be so to her foes (Isa 51:17, 22; Jer 13:13). Calvin with the Septuagint translates, "threshold of destruction," on which they shall stumble and be crushed when they attempt to cross it. English Version is better. both against Judah—The Hebrew order of words is literally, "And also against Judah shall he (the foe) be in the siege against Jerusalem"; implying virtually that Judah, as it shares the invasion along with Jerusalem, so it shall, like the metropolis, prove a cup of trembling to the invaders. Maurer with Jerome translates, "Also upon Judah shall be (the cup of trembling); that is, some Jews forced by the foe shall join in the assault on Jerusalem, and shall share the overthrow with the besiegers. But Zec 12:6, 7 show that Judah escapes and proves the scourge of the foe. |
So, now there is no doubt what God Plans.
Nations have been warned.
So when Nations will contest with Israel, over Jerusalem, that is when the Rapture should take place.
The reasoning for this is that the Anti-Christ will be revealed only after the Rapture.
Noone will know who he is until he brings peace to Jerusalem and confirms a peace treaty with Israel, which then signals the 7 year Tribulation period, a period which the world has never witnessed such destruction, deception and devastation.
Minor Recap:
Jesus said in Matthew 24 that this generation shall not pass away.
As we calculated, we have two Generations, one of 50 years the other of 70 years.
1. Israel formed in 1948/49 so 50 years added is 1998/99.
2. Israel got Jerusalem in 1968/69 so 50 years added is 2018/19
3. Israel formed in 1948/49 add 70 years is 2018/19
4. Israel got Jerusalem in 1968/69 add 70 years is 2038/2039.
Scenario 1
So the Generation that sees Jesus comes back will be before 2038/39.
Subtracting the 7 years Tribulation period the only possible scenario now is 2038/39.
Since Jerusalem still is not fully under Jewish Control.
So the Rapture has to take place before 2031/32. This is Pre-Tribulation.
Keeping that in mind we are in 2014. So, within 17/18 years, we should be witnesses to the Rapture. Again there are many theories about the Rapture being pre-trib, mid-trib, and post trib.
Scenario 2
As 2038/39 less 3 and half years of Jacob's trouble 2034/35.
Then The Rapture takes place before 2034/35. Making it Mid -Tribulation.
For further information I hereby post another article from wikipedia:
Rapture
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Rapture (disambiguation).
One in the bed
One in the mill
One in the field
Jan Luyken's three-part illustration of the rapture described in Matthew 24, verse 40, from the 1795 Bowyer Bible
| Christian eschatology | ||
|---|---|---|
| Eschatology views | ||
| ||
| ||
| ||
| ||
The term "Rapture" is used in at least two senses. In the pre-tribulation view, a group of people will be left behind on earth after another group literally leaves "to meet the Lord in the air." This is now the most common use of the term, especially among fundamentalist Christians and in the United States.[2] The other, older use of the term "Rapture" is simply as a synonym for the final resurrection generally, without a belief that a group of people is left behind on earth for an extended Tribulation period after the events of 1 Thessalonians 4:17.[3][4][5] This distinction is important as some types of Christianity never refer to "the Rapture" in religious education, but might use the older and more general sense of the word "rapture" in referring to what happens during the final resurrection.[6]
There are many views among Christians regarding the timing of Christ's return (including whether it will occur in one event or two), and various views regarding the destination of the aerial gathering described in 1 Thessalonians 4. Denominations such as Roman Catholics,[7] Orthodox Christians,[8] Lutheran Christians,[9] and Reformed Christians[10] believe in a rapture only in the sense of a general final resurrection, when Christ returns a single time. They do not believe that a group of people is left behind on earth for an extended Tribulation period after the events of 1 Thessalonians 4:17.[11]
Pre-tribulation rapture theology was developed in the 1830s by John Nelson Darby and the Plymouth Brethren,[12] and popularized in the United States in the early 20th century by the wide circulation of the Scofield Reference Bible.[13]
Contents
[hide]Etymology[edit]
"Rapture" is derived from Middle French rapture, via the Medieval Latin raptura ("seizure, rape, kidnapping"), which derives from the Latin raptus ("a carrying off").[14]Greek[edit]
The Koine Greek of 1 Thessalonians 4:17 uses the verb form ἁρπαγησόμεθα (harpagisometha), which means "we shall be caught up" or "taken away", with the connotation that this is a sudden event. The dictionary form of this Greek verb is harpazō (ἁρπάζω).[15] This use is also seen in such texts as Acts 8:39, 2Corinthians 12:2-4 and Revelation 12:5.Latin[edit]
The Latin Vulgate translates the Greek ἁρπαγησόμεθα as rapiemur,[16] from the verb rapio meaning "to catch up" or "take away".[17]English Bible versions[edit]
English versions of the Bible have translated rapiemur in various ways:- The Wycliffe Bible (1395), translated from the Latin Vulgate, uses "rushed".[18]
- The Tyndale New Testament (1525), the Bishop's Bible (1568), the Geneva Bible (1587) and the King James Version (1611) use "caught up".[19]
- The New English Bible, translated from the Greek,[20] uses "suddenly caught up" with this footnote: "Or “snatched up.” The Greek verb ἁρπάζω implies that the action is quick or forceful, so the translation supplied the adverb “suddenly” to make this implicit notion clear."
Doctrinal history[edit]
In 1590, Francisco Ribera, a Catholic Jesuit, taught "futurism" the idea that most of Revelation was about the future, and therefore, not about the Catholic Church. He also taught that the rapture would happen 45 days before the end of a 3.5 year tribulation. See http://users.stargate.net/~ejt/Pretrib4.htmThe concept of the rapture, in connection with premillennialism, was expressed by the 17th-century American Puritan father and son Increase and Cotton Mather. They held to the idea that believers would be caught up in the air, followed by judgments on earth, and then the millennium.[21][22] The term rapture was used by Philip Doddridge[23] and John Gill[24] in their New Testament commentaries, with the idea that believers would be caught up prior to judgment on earth and Jesus' second coming.
There exists at least one 18th century and two 19th century pre-tribulation references: in an essay published in 1788 in Philadelphia by the Baptist Morgan Edwards which articulated the concept of a pre-tribulation rapture,[25] in the writings of Catholic priest Emmanuel Lacunza in 1812,[26] and by John Nelson Darby in 1827.[27] Emmanuel Lacunza (1731–1801), a Jesuit priest (under the pseudonym Juan Josafat Ben Ezra), wrote an apocalyptic work entitled La venida del Mesías en gloria y majestad (The Coming of the Messiah in Glory and Majesty). The book appeared first in 1811, 10 years after his death. In 1827 it was translated into English by the Scottish minister Edward Irving.[citation needed]
Dr. Samuel Prideaux Tregelles (1813-1875), a prominent English theologian and biblical scholar, wrote a pamphlet in 1866 tracing the concept of the rapture through the works of John Darby back to Edward Irving.[28]
Although not using the term "rapture", the idea was more fully developed by Edward Irving (1792–1834). In ? (first volume published in 1806) Matthew Henry [29] used the term in his commentary of 1 Thessalonians 4.[30][full citation needed] Irving directed his attention to the study of prophecy and eventually accepted the one-man Antichrist idea of James Henthorn Todd, Samuel Roffey Maitland, Robert Bellarmine, and Francisco Ribera, yet he went a step further. Irving began to teach the idea of a two-phase return of Christ, the first phase being a secret rapture prior to the rise of the Antichrist. According to Irving, “There are three gatherings: – First, of the first-fruits of the harvest, the wise virgins who follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth; next, the abundant harvest gathered afterwards by God; and lastly, the assembling of the wicked for punishment.”[31]
John Nelson Darby first proposed and popularized the pre-tribulation rapture in 1827.[32] This view was accepted among many other Plymouth Brethren movements in England. Darby and other prominent Brethren were part of the Brethren movement which impacted American Christianity, especially with movements and teachings associated with Christian eschatology and fundamentalism, primarily through their writings. Influences included the Bible Conference Movement, starting in 1878 with the Niagara Bible Conference. These conferences, which were initially inclusive of historicist and futurist premillennialism, led to an increasing acceptance of futurist premillennial views and the pre-tribulation rapture especially among Presbyterian, Baptist, and Congregational members.[33] Popular books also contributed to acceptance of the pre-tribulation rapture, including William Eugene Blackstone's book Jesus is Coming, published in 1878,[34] which sold more than 1.3 million copies, and the Scofield Reference Bible, published in 1909 and 1919 and revised in 1967.[35]
The early original Christian church,[36] as well as the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox churches,[37] the Anglican Communion and many Protestant Calvinist denominations, have no tradition of a preliminary return of Christ and reject the doctrine. The Orthodox Church, for example, rejects it because the Protestant doctrine of the rapture depends on a millennial interpretation of prophetic scriptures, rather than an amillennial or postmillennial fashion.[38]
Some proponents of a preliminary rapture believe the doctrine of amillennialism originated with Alexandrian scholars such as Clement and Origen[39] and later became Catholic dogma through Augustine.[40] The church until then held to premillennial views, which see an impending apocalypse from which the church will be rescued after being raptured by the Lord.
Some[who?] pre-tribulation proponents maintain that the earliest known extra-Biblical reference to the pre-tribulation rapture is from a 7th-century tract known as the Apocalypse of Pseudo-Ephraem the Syrian, which says, "For all the saints and Elect of God are gathered, prior to the tribulation that is to come, and are taken to the Lord lest they see the confusion that is to overwhelm the world because of our sins."[41]"[42] However, the interpretation of this writing as supporting a pre-tribulation rapture is debated.[43][44]
The rise in belief in the pre-tribulation rapture is often wrongly attributed to a 15-year old Scottish-Irish girl named Margaret McDonald who was of the first to receive a spiritual baptism under a Pentecostal awakening in Scotland. In 1830 she had a vision of the end times which describes a post-tribulation view of the rapture that was first published in 1840. It was published again in 1861, but two important passages demonstrating a post-tribulation view were removed to encourage confusion concerning the timing of the rapture. The two removed segments were, "This is the fiery trial which is to try us. - It will be for the purging and purifying of the real members of the body of Jesus" and "The trial of the Church is from Antichrist. It is by being filled with the Spirit that we shall be kept".[45]
In 1957 John Walvoord, a theologian at Dallas Theological Seminary, authored a book, The Rapture Question, that gave theological support to the pre-tribulation rapture;[46] this book eventually sold over 65,000 copies. In 1958 J. Dwight Pentecost authored another book supporting the pre-tribulation rapture, Things to Come: A Study in Biblical Eschatology,[47] which sold 215,000 copies.
During the 1970s, belief in the rapture became popular in wider circles, in part due to the books of Hal Lindsey, including The Late Great Planet Earth, which has reportedly sold between 15 million and 35 million copies, and the movie A Thief in the Night, which based its title on the scriptural reference 1 Thessalonians 5:2.[48] Lindsey proclaimed that the rapture was imminent, based on world conditions at the time. The Cold War figured prominently in his predictions of impending Armageddon. Other aspects of 1970s global politics were seen as having been predicted in the Bible. Lindsey suggested, for example, that the seven-headed beast with ten horns, cited in the Book of Revelation, was the European Economic Community, a forebear of the European Union, which between 1981 and 1986 had ten member states; it now has 27 member states.
In 1995 the doctrine of the pre-tribulation rapture was further popularized by Tim LaHaye's Left Behind series of books, which sold tens of millions of copies[49] and were made into several movies.
Views[edit]
One event or two[edit]
Some dispensationalist premillennialists (including many Evangelicals) hold the return of Christ to be two distinct events, or one second coming in two stages. 1 Thessalonians 4:15–17 is seen to be a description of a preliminary event to the return described in Matthew 24:29–31. Although both describe a return of Jesus, these are seen to be separated in time by more than a brief period. The first event may or may not be seen (which is not a primary issue), and is called the rapture, when the saved are to be 'caught up,' whence the term "rapture" is taken. The "second coming" is a public event, wherein Christ's presence is prophesied to be clearly seen by all, as he returns to end a battle staged at Armageddon, though possibly fought at the Valley of Jehoshaphat. The majority of dispensationalists hold that the first event precedes the period of tribulation, even if not immediately (see chart for additional dispensationalist timing views);Amillennialists deny the interpretation of a literal 1,000-year rule of Christ, and as such amillennialism does not necessarily imply much difference between itself and other forms of millennialism besides that denial. However, there is considerable overlap in the beliefs of Amillennialists (including most Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Anglicans, and Lutherans), postmillennialists (including Presbyterians), and historic premillennialists (including some Calvinistic Baptists, among others) with those who hold that the return of Christ will be a single, public event. Those who identify the rapture with the second coming are likely to emphasize mutual similarities between passages of scripture where clouds, trumpets, angels or the archangel, resurrection, and gathering are mentioned. Although some (particularly some amillennialists) may take the rapture to be figurative, rather than literal, these three groups are likely to maintain that the passages regarding the return of Christ describe a single event.
Some[who?] also claim that the "word of the Lord" cited by Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4:15–17 is the Olivet Discourse which Matthew separately describes in Matthew 24:29-31. Although the doctrinal relationship between the rapture and the second coming is the same in these three groups, Historic premillennialists are more likely to use the term "rapture" to clarify their position in distinction from dispensationalists.
Destination[edit]
Dispensationalists see the immediate destination of the raptured Christians as being Heaven, with an eventual return to Earth. Roman Catholic commentators, such as Walter Drum (1912), identify the destination of the 1 Thessalonians 4:17 gathering as Heaven.[50]While Anglicans have many views, some Anglican commentators, such as N. T. Wright, identify the destination as a specific place on Earth.[51][52] This interpretation may sometimes be connected to Christian environmentalist concerns.[53]
Timing[edit]
Pre-tribulation[edit]
The pre-tribulation position advocates that the rapture will occur before the beginning of the seven-year tribulation period, while the second coming will occur at the end of the seven-year tribulation period. Pre-tribulationists often describe the rapture as Jesus coming for the church and the second coming as Jesus coming with the church. Pre-tribulation educators and preachers include Jimmy Swaggart, J. Dwight Pentecost, Tim LaHaye, J. Vernon McGee, Perry Stone, Chuck Smith, Hal Lindsey, Chuck Missler, Jack Van Impe, Grant Jeffrey, Thomas Ice, David Jeremiah, and John Hagee.[55] While many pre-tribulationists are also dispensationalists, not all pre-tribulationists are dispensationalists.[56]Mid-tribulation[edit]
The mid-tribulation position espouses that the rapture will occur at some point in the middle of what is popularly called the tribulation period, or during Daniel's 70th Week. However, since the Bible only uses "tribulation" to refer to the second half of Daniel's 70th week, from a mid-tribulationist's point of view he is a pre-tribulationist. The tribulation is typically divided into two periods of 3.5 years each. Mid-tribulationists hold that the saints will go through the first period (Beginning of Travail, which is not "the tribulation"), but will be raptured into Heaven before the severe outpouring of God's wrath in the second half of what is popularly called the tribulation. Mid-tribulationists appeal to Daniel 7:25 which says the saints will be given over to tribulation for "time, times, and half a time," - interpreted to mean 3.5 years. At the halfway point of the tribulation, the Antichrist will commit the "abomination of desolation" by desecrating the Jerusalem temple (to be built on what is now called the Temple Mount, see Third Temple). Mid-tribulationist teachers include Harold Ockenga, James O. Buswell (a reformed, Calvinistic Presbyterian), and Norman Harrison.[57] This position is a minority view among premillennialists.[58]Prewrath[edit]
Main article: Prewrath
The prewrath rapture view also places the rapture at some point during the tribulation period before the second coming. This view holds that the tribulation of the church begins toward the latter part of the seven-year period, being Daniel's 70th week, when the Antichrist is revealed in the temple. This latter half of the seven-year period [i.e. 3 1/2 years] is defined as the great tribulation, although the exact duration is not known. References from Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21 are used as evidence that this tribulation will be cut short by the coming of Christ to deliver the righteous by means of the rapture, which will occur after specific events in Revelation, in particular after the sixth seal is opened and the sun is darkened and the moon is turned to blood.[59] However, by this point many Christians will have been slaughtered as martyrs by the Antichrist. After the rapture will come God's seventh-seal wrath of trumpets and bowls (a.k.a. "the Day of the Lord"). The Day of the Lord's wrath against the ungodly will follow for the remainder of the seven years.[60] Marvin Rosenthal, author of The Prewrath Rapture of the Church, is a proponent for the prewrath rapture view. His belief is founded on the work of Robert D. Van Kampen (1938–1999); his books The Sign, The Rapture Question Answered and The Fourth Reich detail his pre-wrath rapture doctrine.Partial[edit]
The partial or selective rapture theory holds that all obedient Christians will be raptured before, in the midst of, or after the tribulation depending on one's personal fellowship with God and the faith.[61][62] Therefore, the rapture of a believer is determined by the timing of his conversion during the tribulation. Other proponents of this theory hold that only those who are faithful in their relationship with God (having true fellowship with Him) will be raptured, and the rest resurrected during the tribulation, between the 5th and 6th seals of Revelation, having lost their lives during.[63] Still others hold the rest will either be raptured during the tribulation or at its end. As stated by Ira David (a proponent of this view): “The saints will be raptured in groups during the tribulation as they are prepared to go.”[64] Some notable proponents of this theory are G. H. Lang, Robert Chapman, G. H. Pember, Robert Govett, D. M. Panton, Watchman Nee, Ira E. David, J. A. Seiss, Hudson Taylor, Anthony Norris Groves, John Wilkinson, G. Campbell Morgan, Otto Stockmayer and Rev. J. W. (Chip) White, Jr.Post-tribulation[edit]
Main article: Post-tribulation rapture
The post-tribulation position places the rapture at the end of the tribulation period. Post-tribulation writers define the tribulation period in a generic sense as the entire present age, or in a specific sense of a period of time preceding the second coming of Christ.[65] The emphasis in this view is that the church will undergo the tribulation — even though the church will be spared the wrath of God.[66] Matthew 24:29–31 - "Immediately after the Tribulation of those days...they shall gather together his elect..." - is cited as a foundational scripture for this view. Post-tribulationists perceive the rapture as occurring simultaneously with the second coming of Christ. Upon Jesus' return, believers will meet him in the air and will then accompany him in his return to the Earth. In the Epistles of Paul, most notably in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 ("the dead in Christ shall rise first") and 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, a trumpet is described as blowing at the end of the tribulation to herald the return of Christ; Revelation 11:15 further supports this view. Moreover, after chapters 6–19, and after 20:1-3 when Satan is bound, Revelation 20:4-6 says, "and they lived, and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection."Authors and teachers who support the post-tribulational view include Pat Robertson, Walter R. Martin, John Piper, George E. Ladd,[67] Robert H. Gundry,[68] and Douglas Moo.
The Post-Tribulation view is essentially the position held as well by amillennialists, who view the millennial rule of Christ as allegorical to Christ's rule in the believer through sanctification (II Pet. 3:8) thus precluding literal interpretation of a thousand year period. Amillennialists commonly view the rapture of the Church as one and the same event with the second coming of Christ. Authors who have expressed support for this view include St. Augustine, and the Puritan author of Pilgrim's Progress, John Bunyan.
Date[edit]
Since the origin of the concept, many believers in the rapture have made predictions regarding the date of the event. The primary scriptural reference cited against this position is Matthew 24:36, where Jesus is quoted as saying; "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only" (RSV). Another potential problem for those attempting to set a date for the rapture arises from Matthew 24:34, where Jesus is quoted as saying "Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled" (KJV).Any individual or religious group that has dogmatically predicted the day of the rapture, a practise referred to as "date setting", has been thoroughly embarrassed and discredited, as the predicted date of fulfillment has invariably come and gone without event.[69][70] Some of these individuals and groups have offered "correct" target dates, while others have offered excuses and have tried to "correct" their target dates, while simply releasing a reinterpretation of the meaning of the scripture to fit their current predicament, and then explain that although the prediction appeared to have not come true, in reality it had been completely accurate and fulfilled, albeit in a different way than many had expected.
Conversely, many of those who believe that the precise date of the rapture cannot be known, do affirm that the specific time frame that immediately precedes the rapture event can be known. This time frame is often referred to as "the season". The primary section of scripture cited for this position is Matthew 24:32–35; where Jesus is quoted teaching the parable of the fig tree, which is proposed as the key that unlocks the understanding of the general timing of the rapture, as well as the surrounding prophecies listed in the sections of scripture that precede and follow this parable.
Predictions[edit]
| This article contains embedded lists that may be poorly defined, unverified or indiscriminate. (April 2014) |
- 1844: William Miller predicted that Christ would return between March 21, 1843 and March 21, 1844, then revised his prediction, claiming to have miscalculated Scripture, to October 22, 1844. The realization that the predictions were incorrect resulted in a Great Disappointment. Miller's theology gave rise to the Advent movement. The Baha'is believe that Christ did return as Miller predicted in 1844, with the advent of the Báb, and numerous Miller-like prophetic predictions from many religions are given in William Sears' book, Thief in The Night.[71][non-primary source needed]
- 1914,[72] 1918,[73] and 1925:[74] Various dates predicted for the rapture by the Jehovah's Witnesses.
- 1981: Chuck Smith predicted that Jesus would probably return by 1981.[75]
- 1992: A Korean group, the Mission for the Coming Days, predicted that the rapture would occur on October 28, 1992.[76]
- 1994: Pastor John Hinkle of Christ Church in Los Angeles predicted that the rapture would occur on June 9, 1994. Radio evangelist Harold Camping predicted September 6, 1994.[77]
- 2011: Harold Camping's revised prediction had May 21, 2011 as the date of the rapture.[78][79] After this prediction proved inaccurate, he claimed that a non-visible "spiritual judgement" had taken place, and that the physical rapture would occur on October 21, 2011. The physical rapture prediction also proved inaccurate.[80]
As you have seen many Predictions have taken place about the Rapture. What people tend to forget is that the God Himself has given us the general timing. There is only one Feast of the Lord that begins of which no man knows the day or hour.
The Feast of Trumpets,which occurs end of September Beginning of October.
Although we do not which date this occurs for the previously discussed reason that:
God will not share this Glorious event with anyone, He does give us the General Time-frame.
After researching the Prophets and the Birth of Jesus according to the Jewish calender,
The only conclusion is that Jesus returns to Earth during the Feast of Trumpets. The Rapture as well occurs during the Feast of Trumpets.
In the first Part I showed that the Rapture of Enoch took place. So this is not an event that is new for the Lord.
What will confuse the Nations is when millions of people are taken away in an instant. No sign, no trace to be found.
One interesting factor to be noted;
1. The Feast of Trumpets falls in September/Beginning October.
2. In the Book of Revelation, A Trumpet sounds when all the saints are Raptured.
3. So if the Mid-Tribulation theory is correct, according to the Jewish Calender, the agreement of peace that the Anti-Christ comes up with has to be signed in the month of April.
Then the 3 and half Years will occur in the Month of September/October exactly on or near the Feast of Trumpets.
In Pre Tribulation, The Rapture would again occur on the Feasts of Trumpets.
After a few months the Anti-Christ would sign the peace agreement.
In my humble Opinion;
God Almighty does not disclose the day or hour so that the devil does not know as well.
Is that why the Anti-Christ shakes his fist at God in anger?
As in the Days of Noah and Lot, people were unrepenting, and haughty.
We can see that in todays society where a man of God is unpopular but a porn star is held in high regard.
Coming back to Prophecy:
1. I truly believe that the Rapture takes place before the 7 year peace agreement.
In my opinion the Anti-christ has already to be on the scene to confirm an agreement of Peace with many Nations, especially Israel.
The only major stumbling block as mentioned before is Jerusalem.
So, when Israel takes back control of Jerusalem completely, the Muslim Nations will be enraged, as the temple mound would also be under Jewish Control.
That would lead all Nations, remember "All Nations" to condemn Israel for that act.
And to be noted is that there is major population of the Muslims in every part of the World that would rise up. It's only natural when the temple Mound is the home of the 3rd most sacred place for Muslims, ie. Dome of the Rock.
Hence God will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling/stumbling/poison for all Nations.
When the rapture occurs and millions of people disappear, just imagine the chaos.
How is it possible to bring about an explanation?
It is the Anti-Christ who will arrange an explanation, through the powers of the devil.
In my opinion in Pre-Trib era the devil is already at work preparing the whole world to believe a lie.
Humanoids posing as aliens maybe? UFO'S? Some use of a bio-chemical weapon maybe? Hollywood is not helping either.
Recent discovery of Nimrod's tomb. Well remember Nimrod? His tomb is supposedly to have been discovered in Egypt. They even claim that his DNA is well preserved.
It would not surprise me if scientists figure a way to recreate him.
Some explanation has to be given and it will be so that the people of the world will believe it........
I don't know exactly what the explanation will be, nor do I wish to speculate. All I know for a fact is that it will be very well recieved and will cause people to calm down.
THE FAILURES OF THE CHURCH
The book of Revelation is quite specific about the failures of each of the churches in Asia.
What is Christianity?
1. Anyone who believes in his heart and confesses with his mouth that Jesus Christ is the true Son of God and died for our sins, and was resurrected on the third day, is the Child of God. Jesus dissolves and forgives all his sins, past, present, future and assures him eternal life and freedom from a second death. It is not by works nor by wealth, but through the mercy and grace of God.
Hence the age where sinners can call on the blood of Christ to be set free by this free gift is called the Age of Dispensation of Grace.
Where Adam had sinned and brought upon the curse of death on all mankind causing a seperation from The Lord Almighty, Jesus reconciles all sinners back to God.
Where blood is the price to pay for sin, whose blood is more precious than that of Jesus? The Son of God who never sinned, has purchased the sinner's sin, thus giving eternal life.
There is only one hope for such a believer in Christ; His return
He is Alive and in Heaven, He is the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, The Mighty One, The Lamb of God, The Lion of Judah, The Holy One, The Son of Man, The Elect One, The Concealed One, The Righteous One, The Savior, The Messiah, The Redeemer, The Friend, The Healer, Our Advocate against the Accussers, The Bright and Shining Morning Star, The High Priest, The Truth, The Light of the World and The Only Way to Attain Reconcilliation with God!
The Lord Almighty requires nothing from us except that we believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths.
He then send's His Holy Spirit that will write His Laws in your Heart.
No Rituals, No money, No Forced Convertion, No wearing talismans, No incense, No sacrfices, No offerings, No fasting, Nothing!!!!!!!
What do we get free you might ask?
1. Our Sins are Forgiven
2. We are Reconciled with God
3. We are Promised Eternal Life in Heaven
4. God will dwell with us, and will never leave us or forsake us.
5. We are promised His Holy Spirit to seal us.
6. We are Promised to be Raptured and escape The Great Tribulation.
7 . We are Promised that we will inherit the Earth
8. We are Promised that we will be Judges of the wicked
9. We are Promised that we will never suffer and our tears will wiped away by God Himself.
10 We are Promised that we will clothed in white robes and recieve justice.
11. We are Promised that we will battle in THE DAY OF THE LORD!.
These are just a few Promises when we call on Jesus.
And if any so-called Christian professes otherwise, he will have His portion with Unbelievers.
For God through His Mercy, Loving Kindness, and Grace gave the Blood of Jesus as a Purchase Price for our Sins that had seperated us from Him.
So who is he to take the glory away from God? No man can claim that. Nor can any Angel.
John 3:16 (probably the most used and most popular verse of the bible) where Jesus says, " For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him, should not perish but have everlasting life."
There are many misconceptions about Christians and the Church. I hope to clarify these for someone who does not know God.
1. I have already explained above who is a Christian. Anyone who believes in his heart and confesses with his mouth that Jesus Christ is the only true Begotten Son of God, who died for our sins and (was resurrected after His crucification) on the 3rd day is a Christian.
Furthermore, Matthew 18; 3 Jesus says" Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven".
I hope this is understood very clearly.
2. Christians are not born. Let it be very clear that Christians are not born. Only those who believe point one are Christians. It is the duty of the parents to preach, teach and pray for their children the ways of God, but ultimately it is the Children who have to decide to believe in Jesus or not. Niether can a husband cover for his wife nor vice-versa. Every Individual will have to decide to enter this personal relationship with Jesus on his own. Hope this is very clear.
3. Catholics who worship Idols, Saints etc are not Christians. God does not have double standards. God will not be mocked. Point one again please. This is Jesus speaking.....so noone can argue this fact. The Cross is not to be worshipped. No image of man, woman, beast or anything earthly is to be worshipped. God is a Spirit.
4. Church is not a place or a building, it is where 2 or more believers congregate.
5. The bible is not meant to be "read". I have encountered many people in my life that told me that there is nothing in the bible, for they have " read" it and have concluded that there is no difference in it as compared to other religious books.
Fine. You can read. Only God can make you understand. And if He has refused you the wisdom to understand, I dare not even try.
6. " There is nothing in the bible where God says not to worship other Gods or follow other religions."
Point one again!
7. " God is one but he has different names"
Another statement which comes across that many Christians don't know how to answer:
Well the answer lies in the following verses:
1. "I Am" the way, the truth and the
life
Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and
the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6)
Jesus claimed that He is the only way to heaven and
that there is no other way that leads to heaven. No matter how hard anybody may
try, if he/she wants to go to heaven he/she will have to go through Jesus. If
you want to go to London from New York, you need a specific ticket to go to that
particular place. But if you think, "I will go to airport and catch any flight",
assuming that every flight is going to London, then you will never reach the
place because you need to catch the specific flight which is going to London. In
the same way if we want to go to heaven, we should determine our way. And Jesus
said that He is the way… and that no one can go to the Father except through
Him.
Jesus said, "I am the Truth". No man on this earth
can claim to be such that he/she is the truth because, there can be no one in
this planet earth who never lied or never did anything wrong. So no man can
claim this. But Jesus Himself said, " I am the Truth", because He is God Himself
and there is no sin or no lie in Him.
In the above said verse, Jesus said, "I am the
Life". What is the meaning of life about which Jesus is talking? Let us see what
it is about? Are we dead and do we need life? We read from Bible Romans 3:23,
"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." And also in Romans
6:23, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in
Christ Jesus our Lord."
We all
have sinned and so we are lifeless because our soul is dead in sin. Because of
our sins we are heading towards death –eternal death. But Jesus came to this
world to save us from hell fire. He gave His precious life for us. He shed His
precious blood on the cross to purchase pardon for us.
Yes, He gave His life for us but now we have to
claim life – eternal life so that we may never die but live forever and forever.
Jesus came to give us eternal life – a life that will never fade. He came to
give us life abundant and it is available free of cost because Jesus paid the
price for it on the cross.
When this verse says that Jesus is the way, the
truth and the life, it means that there is no other way to heaven, no other
truth and no other source of life available in this world. This aborts all
others and proves ‘the deity of Jesus Christ’ who is the only one way to heaven,
who is the only one life source and who is the only one truth.
2. "I Am" the Door
Jesus said with all His authority, "I am the door
of the sheep."
Then Jesus said to them again, "Most assuredly, I
say to you, I am the door of the sheep.
"All who ever came before Me are thieves and
robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.
"I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be
saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
"The thief does not come except to steal, and to
kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may
have it more abundantly.
(John 10:7-10)
By saying this He made it clear that there is no
other door through which a person can enter eternity. And he declared His deity
and His divine quality through this.
3. "I Am" the Light of the
world
Jesus said in John 8:12, "I am the light of the
world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of
life."
Jesus made it clear that He is the light of the
world and if we want to walk in light rather than darkness, we have to follow
Him. David says in Psalms 18:28, "For You will light my lamp; The LORD
my God will enlighten my darkness."
What is meant by darkness of our lives? Bible says
that we are corrupted because of Adam and Eve’s sin. Sin, death, darkness,
problems, pain, tears, suffering and sickness came in this world because of
their sin. But I have a good news for you. We need not to live in darkness
anymore, because Jesus – the light of the world has come to enlighten our lives.
Jesus said that He is the light of the world and if we do not have Jesus in our
lives we are not in light but in darkness. Jesus came to enlighten our lives and
He came to pull us out from the utter darkness of this world. By accepting Jesus
in our lives we can have the light of life.
4. "I Am" the good shepherd
Jesus said in John 10:11-14,
"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives
His life for the sheep.
"But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one
who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees;
and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.
"The hireling flees because he is a hireling and
does not care about the sheep.
"I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and
am known by My own."
(John 10:11-14)
Jesus is not only a door of the sheep but He is a
good shepherd. He leads us, guides us and provides for us - His sheep. That’s is
why David says in his very famous Psalms, that, "The LORD is my shepherd; I
shall not want." (Psalms 23:1)
5. "I Am" the bread of Life
John 6:35, And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread
of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall
never thirst.
Jesus declared that He is the bread of life. He
came to give us life - eternal life. God made Adam and Eve for fellowship with
Him, but because of their disobedience they were separated from God. But our
soul longs for the fellowship of our Creator. There is thirst and there is
hunger for God in our souls. That is the reason why we can not live in peace and
joy until we find Him.
Only Jesus can satisfy our thirst and hunger for
fellowship with God because He is the bread of life – the bread which gives life
– eternal life.
6. "I Am" the resurrection and the
life
Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the
life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.
"And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never
die. Do you believe this?"
( John 11:25-26)
Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life. By
saying this Jesus declared His power over death. When Jesus was in this world,
He demonstrated His mighty power of resurrection and raised many from the dead
as He did for Lazarus in John 11th Chapter. Lazarus was dead and
buried for 4 days but Jesus came and, He cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come
forth!" (John 11:43)
And the dead man came out from the
grave.
We read about another incident in Luke chapter 7
verses 11-14,
Now it happened, the day after, that He went into a
city called Nain; and many of His disciples went with Him, and a large
crowd.
And when He came near the gate of the city, behold,
a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a
widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her.
When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and
said to her, "Do not weep."
Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those
who carried him stood still. And He said, "Young man, I say to you,
arise."
(Luke 7:11-14)
When Jesus saw the dead body of the young man the
only son of a widow being carried, He was moved with compassion and He touched
the open coffin and made him alive. No man could do this but only God - A God
who has power over life and death.
Not only that, He Himself came out victoriously
defeating death. He went through death but death could not hold Him in the
grave. On the third day He rose up from the dead.
His one word, His one touch can make a difference
in your life too. No matter how bad may be the situation through which you are
passing, He can bring life in you, in your marriage, in your future, in your
business!!
7. "I Am" the True Vine
"I am the true vine, and My Father is the
vinedresser."
"Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He
takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more
fruit."
(John 15:1-2)
"I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides
in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do
nothing."
(John 15:5)
Jesus again gave emphasis about who He is. He
declared that if a person is not abiding in Him then he/she can not bear fruit
and without Him they can do nothing. In other words if we are not in Him then we
are lifeless – A separated branch from the main tree, that is of no use.
Without Him, life is meaningless. If Jesus is not
in your life then you can not have a fruitful life, you can not have any
goodness or blessing in your life. But when Jesus becomes the vine of our life,
He makes a difference. His life flows through our lives and makes us fruitful
and blessed.
8. "I Am" the Alpha and the Omega
"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and
the End," says the Lord, "who is and who was and who is to come, the
Almighty."
(Revelation 1:8)
Jesus said that He is the Alpha and the Omega which
means that there was no one before Him and there is no one after Him. He is the
Beginning and the End. In the Old Testament God said that He is the First and
the Last. Isaiah 41:4, "Who has performed and done it, Calling the generations
from the beginning? 'I, the LORD, am the first; And with the last I am
He.'"
He is the God who has neither beginning nor end, in
fact He is the Beginning and the End. By saying this Jesus proved once again
that He was from the beginning and that He is the everlasting God.
9. "I Am" the Almighty God
"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and
the End," says the Lord, "who is and who was and who is to come, the
Almighty."
(Revelation 1:8)
Jesus said that He is the Almighty. From the Old
Testament we read that He is the Almighty God. In the Old Testament God’s name
is given as El Shaddai (Hebrew). God said to Abraham in Genesis 17:1, "When
Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I
am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless."
Yes, He is almighty, omniscient, omnipotent and
self-sufficient. Jesus proved that He is the same God of Old Testament and that
He is the Almighty God.
RECAP:
The Fallen Angels created false religions that have become traditions. Traditions are very strong in certain communities to the extent they are followed blindly without any question.
Now that we have put all the puzzle pieces together, we find the deception of the Devil and his cohorts.
When tradition is blindly followed and the mind is affirmed in them, is it fair to reveal the truth?
Is it fair to those people who have been blinded for ages to give them sight?
We may feel not, but for them to continue in darkness is a greater sin.
Many will question and contest these articles. Especially those who feel offended by the truth.
As I had mentioned before, no other religious text is as explicit about prophecies that have come to be fulfilled under miraculous circumstances and are still being fulfilled.
Hence, when God Himself has spoken, who am I to contend? I can only reveal, I can only show, I can only present and I can only interpret.
God in His mercy Loves all. His Heart yearns for all Mankind to come to Him.
His Love knows no boundaries, His Mercy and Grace has no end, His Eyes long to see each of His Children with Him.
I hope the whole world can read this and understand God's Heart and Love. For there is nothing Greater Than Him to have in our lives. Our lives that is like a vapor, one minute here, the next minute gone.
I will keep updating and make some more presentations in part 4.
No comments:
Post a Comment