Jump to content
  • Welcome Guest

    For an ad free experience on Online Baptist, Please login or register for free

He Who Letteth Or Restraineth


Recommended Posts

  • Moderators

Revelation 7:

1 And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.
2 And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,
3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
4 And I heard the number of them which were sealed: [and there were] sealed an hundred [and] forty [and] four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

 

till we have sealed: Sounds like its the five angels that sealed the 144,000.

That he HAS the seal doesn't mean he APPLIES the seal.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderators

The discussion is complicated by John's assertion :

18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. 20 But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.

 

What did he mean by "last time" ? The date is unknown but significant - before AD 70, the "last time" would be the destruction, which they knew about & expected from Jesus' Olivet prophecy. I think we can all agree that antichrists did not die out with the destruction, but have continued down the ages - & there are plenty today.

 

I do consider Paul in 2 Thes. 2 is writing about the temple destruction - the temple was still in use but under sentence of destruction before the generation that rejected Jesus passed.

 

Note that both John & Paul said their readers knew what they were talking about. The fact that we don't indicates a first C event rather than future "end times."

 

Also I think the Holy Spirit is restraining evil & unbelievers so that believers can live in relative peace & preach the Gospel. Seriously? Read the news much? That there is realtive peace here is primarily because of the generally weak and beggerly form of Christianity that abounds in the US-but many Christians who are serious about the things of God are regularly killed and otherwise persecuted and the only peace they have is what the Lord spreads abroad in their hearts. We are not in the state of the antediluvians where the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Happily the general situation is that the unbelievers simply get on with life in a law abiding & peaceful way. But not everywhere, & some organised religions have shown unrestrained wickedness .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.



×
×
  • Create New...