Amazing the gyrations you make to fit every Scripture that touches on eschatology inside these two verses, at a particular point in time, [by the way, the verse says "hour", in the KJV and NKJV ("ωρα") not an "instantaneous event", and the HCSB and NIV render this as "a time is coming", which I think also well expresses the Greek idiom, here], attempting to come up with a schemata, yet can feel so free to assume that "day" and "1000 years" are symbolic, yet "hour" and "year" must represent some "literal" time span. Your "belief" (or mine, in some other instance) (that) "it will be a 'quick work' the Lord will do", does not make this so, in the sense you are intending, nor does it allow for the fact that God has been said to be "working" for many years, in many things, in His providence, (Ex. 14:31; 32:16; 34:10; Jos. 24:31; Jd. 2:7; Ps. 46:8; 78:4; Is. 5:12; 10:12; et al.) yet Scripture, at the same time, also first says God already ended his work and rested from it. (Gen. 2:2-3)Brother Bob said:Feel free to ask anything. I don't believe in your long long time of living on earth, destruction on earth. I believe it will be a quick work the Lord will do.
I believe what Jesus said about the matter:
Jhn 5:28
Jhn 5:29 [Verses snipped to print.]
Fit all of your wars, new earth, armigaddon, etc in how the Lord said it would be.
Did God "finish his work"? Certainly, in one sense, namely that of creation. No, in another sense. Contradiction here? No, CONTEXT, here!2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. (Gen. 2:2-3)
16 For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him,[a] because He had done these things on the Sabbath. 17 But Jesus answered them, “ My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.”
18 Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God. 19 Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. 20 For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel. (Jn. 5:16-20)
How did Jesus 'break the Sabbath'? (He actually didn't, but as they saw it he did, by 'working'.) He was without sin, remember?. As a Jew, under the Mosaic Law, He therefore 'kept the Sabbath day holy'by doing no "servile work in it", or He would have sinned.
There are verses that speak of "cutting short" of time, (Rom. 9:26 - NASB, YLT, WYC, DARBY; Mt. 24:32; Mk. 10:20) but none I know of that use any phrase of "a quick work" in any version I am familiar with, although I do know of a woe that is pronounced on those that ask for such.
16 But the LORD of Hosts is exalted by His justice,
and the holy God is distinguished by righteousness.
17 Lambs will graze
as [if in] their own pastures,
and strangers will eat
[among] the ruins of the rich.
18 Woe to those who drag wickedness
with cords of deceit
and [pull] sin along with cart ropes,
19 to those who say:
"Let Him hurry up and do His work quickly
so that we can see it!
Let the plan of the Holy One of Israel take place
so that we can know it!"
20 Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
who substitute darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who substitute bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter.
21 Woe to those who are wise in their own opinion
and clever in their own sight. (J) [c] (Is. 5:16-21 HCSB)
Given my 'druthers', I'd rather be taken out of this physical world by the Uppertaker, than by the undertaker. But God's 'druthers' and mine may not be the same. So my body may well get 'planted' in this earth. Christians, as members of the 'church', have been doing this for almost 2000 years. If I do, in fact, pass physically from this realm, before the Lord comes "for his saints" at the rapture (I Thess. 4)(BTW, you, not me, better not use the term "raptured" either. You can't find it in the English Bible, in the 'standard versions', having to do with this subject.)BTW; are you going to be planted in this earth, but raised in the "new" one???
The promise of the Lord, himself, is that there will be a new heavens and a new earth. Isaiah records this two times, meaning the Lord repeated himself, just so you would know it to be true. (Isa. 65:17 ; 66:22) Peter says this is a specific promise of the Lord, as well. (II Pet. 3:13); And Revelation is specifically said to be Christ's personal revelation (given to God, the Son, by God, the Father) to John. (Rev. 1:1-3,19) Funny thing, somehow I don't see a single book in Scripture written by either EdSutton or Brother Bob, that negates this.10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.[c] 11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. (II Pet. 3:10-13 - NKJV)
It is not that I at least, am "not satisfied" with a spiritual kingdom; it's that Scripture teaches far more than "just" a spiritual kingdom, which is what you seem to be saying. None of us who have argued - er I mean discussed this with you, to my memory, have denied a "spiritual kingdom", in one sense. [Snipped from my reply, to print]Futurists make the same mistake that the Jews who crucified Christ made -- they were not satisfied with a spiritual
kingdom; they had to have a literal, worldly, physical kingdom.
This is simply not very true. At least two or three, besides myself (although I believe one got a permanent vacation from the BB for something they said, it was not because of this), have given multiple Scriptures, where any reading of the words at anywhere close to "face value", can only be referring to a physical kingdom, of some duration, where the Lord (or Christ or "the Messiah") will "reign". I admit that only Revelation defines this time as 1000 years, just maybe because God had not revealed this time frame before then, you think??Not one of you has given scripture where Christ will reign in the MK "on Earth", not one, still waiting.
Ed
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