And if you read the whole chapter, 2 Sam. 22, you should see David had written a SONG.
Were the things David's claimed God had done in his song, done By God
LITERALLY , or not?
Remeber, you are
on record as COMPLETELY REJECTING anyone "spiritualizing away" such language as we Find David using (and you spiritualizing).
But maybe that just for the rest of us?
I suppose It's A-OK when you do it with scriptures you choose, just nobody else is allowed to....
David used "artist's license".
As Did all the prophets, even the New Testament ones.
Whats your point?
Now, you don't have one quark of PROOF that the eschatological events Jesus prophesied in the Olivet Discourse have already occurred.
Really?
Luke 21:20-22
20 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. 21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her.
Yeah there's not a quark of evidence that Jerusalem was destroyed in 70AD...
The great trib has NOT yet happened,
Or course It has.
--COMPARE THIS PASSAGE--
Matthew 24:15-21
"When you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),
then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house. Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak.
But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!...For then there will be a great tribulation"
--TO THIS PARALLEL PASSAGE IN LUKE--
Luke 21:20-23
"When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is near.
then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those who are in the midst of the city must leave, and those who are in the country must not enter the city; because these are days of vengeance, so that all things which are written will be fulfilled.
Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days; for there will be great distress upon the land and wrath to this people"
Roby,
Luke himself shows us that the period in view in Christ's discourse is the destruction of Jerusalem when the desolation of the city took place at the hands of the Romans -- i.e., AD 67-70.
According to Luke's INFALLIBLE testimony, The time of the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet is simultaneous with the time when the Jerusalem church saw the city surrounded by armies just prior to its desolation at the hands of the gentile Roman armies.
Certainly, the world will see plenty of troubles. However,
Matthew 24:15-20 and
Luke 21:20-23 were marvellously fulfilled in real history, proving the prophetic powers of Jesus and the apostles in undeniable fashion. No skeptic alive can deny it or get around it.
and Jesus certainly hasn't returned in the manner HE HIMSELF prophesied.
What
manner was that?
As I have shown painstakingly time and again, and you have provided nothing scriptural to refute, this is all apocalyptic language that the prophets, INCLUDING JESUS HIMSELF used time and time again to discuss the fall of a nation or empire.
The biblical examples below of previous comings of the Father form the entire backdrop for the doctrine of the "coming" of Christ, for it was in this manner of the Father's glory that Christ said he would come (Matt 16:27-28; Lk. 9:26; Matt 24:33-34).
The cloud-coming of
Revelation 1:7 that "every eye would see" is shown in
Revelation 14:14-20 to be an event that occurs in the heavenly realms. As the passage reveals, Christ's actions and commands in the heavenlies result in various tribulation-period disasters that transpire on earth. Simply put,
Revelation 14:14-20 is the cloud-coming that "every eye would see." This is significant, for St. John is not describing the coming of Christ as some visual spectacular with cumulus clouds in the skies overhead, but as the coming of Yahweh himself, making Christ equal with the Father.
We have countless examples of the Father coming in His great glory during the Old Testamental period (be sure to note the graphic,
physical descriptions and explicit "
visual" connotations of Yahweh's comings):
[On Yahweh's coming to Egypt -- early 700s BC] Behold,
Yahweh rides on a swift cloud, and comes to Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall tremble
at his presence; and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it. I will stir up the Egyptians against the Egyptians (
Isaiah 19:1-2)
[On Yahweh's coming during the Maccabean Period] For I have bent Judah for me, I have filled the bow with Ephraim; and I will stir up your sons, Zion, against your sons, Greece, and will make you as the sword of a mighty man.
Yahweh shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth
as the lightning; and the Lord Yahweh will blow the trumpet, and will go with whirlwinds of the south. Yahweh of Hosts will defend them; and they shall devour, and shall tread down the sling-stones; and they shall drink, and make a noise as through wine; and they shall be filled like bowls, like the corners of the altar. Yahweh their God will save them in that day (
Zechariah 9:13-16)
[On Yahweh's coming to Israel for Babylonian Exile - 6th Century BC] Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because you are turbulent more than the nations that are round about you, and have not walked in my statutes, neither have kept my ordinances, neither have done after the ordinances of the nations that are round about you; therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I, even I, am against you; and I will execute judgments in the midst of you
before the eyes of the nations. I will do in you that which I have not done, and whereunto I will not do any more the like, because of all your abominations (Ez 5:7-9)
[On Yahweh's coming to Israel for Babylonian Exile - 6th Century BC] As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, surely with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out, will I be king over you: and I will bring you out from the peoples, and will gather you out of the countries in which you are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out; and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and
there will I enter into judgment with you face to face...Hear the word of Yahweh: Thus says the Lord Yahweh, Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every green tree in you, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burnt thereby.
All flesh shall see that I, Yahweh, have kindled it...Thus says Yahweh: Behold, I am against you, and will draw forth my sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked. Seeing then that I will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of its sheath against all flesh from the south to the north
: and all flesh shall know that I, Yahweh, have drawn forth my sword out of its sheath (Ez 20:33-35,47-48; 21:3-5)
Jehovah hath made bare His holy arm before the eyes of all nations (Isa 52:10)
These are just a few examples of the Father's Old-Testament comings, but there are many others: Yahweh came down and shot arrows at Saul and his armies, shaking the earth's foundations and the heavens at that time (2 Sam 22:8-16);
Yahweh is depicted as having destroyed the universe when he judged Israel through Babylon (Jer 4:22-30), and did so again when he judged Egypt by Babylon's King Nebuchadnezzar (Ez 32:1-16). The Father entered into judgments with Egypt and Assyria in a spectacular coming in
Isaiah 31. Habakkuk's depiction of Jehovah's coming at Mt. Sinai is nothing less than apocalyptic (Hab 3:3-16).
As stated in
Matthew 21:40-45, the Lord of the Vineyard came to the apostate leaders of first-century Israel and was The Stone that crushed them to powder, removing the Kingdom of God from them and giving it to a new Nation.
You have failed to show otherwise, from either scripture or History.
Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
