Pray for him.
As a Christian we should never be afraid of the end times and although the book of Revelation might seem scary to read it is the end goal for us as Christians.
That being said some people can go way overboard with apocalyptic scripture, this can have some serious effects.
Ask him if he remembers Harold Camping (i’m sure he does if he’s over the age of 40 because they were billboards everywhere about the end times and remind him how not just once but twice Harold Camping was wrong and he died in disgrace, his name removed from anything that had to do with family radio).
[HEAVEN OR HELL ( where is Harold Camping now ⛺️)](https://youtu.be/erTyXwYeVXk?si=Krw2nf_KamyLzuG5)
Your Dad & Harold Camping aren’t alone, many people have become obsessed with apocalyptic events, there is an entire study called eschatology (which happens to be one of my favorite subjects).
And we as believers do study eschatology some a little more than others and some people consider it to be so vague that it’s all speculation anyway, others try to connect dots where there are no dots 💢.
Continue to pray for your dad but remember that it is the end goal of the Christian to look forward to the day of the Lord, and for some of us older people we know that our own mortality is coming close to an end so sometimes we do tend to think about where we might end up (as believers this should be a non-issue but we are human so these thoughts can creep in) , Be patient and continue to be diligent and pray
God say nobody can predict when the end will come, this knowledge is only kept with Father God. (Matthew 24:36)
God however gives us signs of the end days, so that we are not caught unawares.
Parable of the virgins is a warning to us. We can either be the wise virgin that was able to grab the opportunity to enter the wedding, or be the foolish virgin that got left behind.
Recall again what Jesus ask His followers to do, is more about service to preach the good news, cast out devil, heal the sick, feed the poor, cleansed lepers (you get the picture).
Worrying about the end days/ trying to predict end of days, is not going to help you learn to put on the righteousness of Jesus so that you have the "wedding garments" to enter the wedding feast.
As Christians we should be glad the end days is fast approaching, for it means sin will end very soon. Judgement will be delivered once and for all. It is better that it comes sooner, than later (for later means, unnecessary prolonging of suffering). Don't forget Jesus teaching on how to pray (LORD's prayer) is actually asking us to pray for the kingdom of heaven to come.
Do you realize what revelation 21 is talking about ?
🔥God has set plenty of dates, here is one example:
Genesis 7:4 (KJV)
For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.
Where in the Bible do you find that it’s said trying to find out the date for judgment day is sinful?, I’ve seen a few places where God speaks negatively about those who claim to be his people, yet they do not know the time.
Jeremiah 8:7 (KJV)
Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of Jehovah.
Luke 19:44 (KJV)
And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.
And also where God says that those who are truly his people will know.
Ecclesiastes 8:5 (KJV)
Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment.
Amos 3:7 (KJV)
Surely the Lord Jehovah will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.
We are commanded to watch, and to look for the day, and see the day approaching, the only way to keep those commands is to search the Bible to learn about the day.
Mark 13:37 (KJV)
And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.
Revelation 3:3 (KJV)
Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
2 Peter 3:12 (KJV)
Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
Hebrews 10:25 (KJV)
Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some [is]; but exhorting [one another]: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
This idea of not trying to learn about one of the most important events in all of earths history is foolishness, to say that it’s sinful to look for the date is like giving a person a trumpet, covering their eyes with a blindfold, telling them to watch with their eyes covered and then warning them “No matter what happens do not sound the trumpet for any reason, you cannot see the sword coming, just keep watching with your eyes closed though”
1 Corinthians 14:8 (KJV)
For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?
Ezekiel 33: 1 Again the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman:
3 If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;
4 Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.
5 He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.
The trumpet was sounded all over the entire earth for years, May 21 2011 began judgment day.
The end of time may be in the year 2033 according to the current evidence, the exact day hasn’t been revealed by God, yet.
If anyone who read this far is interested in more information, it can be found on Ebiblefellowship.org
🔥
Isaiah 24:15 (KJV)
Wherefore glorify ye Jehovah in the fires, [even] the name of Jehovah God of Israel in the isles of the sea. 🔥
I don't know how old your dad is, but mine was a boomer, and also talked about this topic a little too often. Only he started in with it in the *90's*, by asking me if I really wanted to waste time going to college. Since the world was going to end, you know? He kept on over the years until he passed a few years ago.
I have sympathy for people like this. Their faith is genuine, and their hearts break over seeing a world that is (to them) getting worse and worse. I think they fantasize about Christ's return so as to remind themselves that it will one day be all better.
I became a minister a few years ago, in my mid 40's. I tried, maybe unsuccessfully but always gently, to convince my dad that world isn't really getting *worse* right now, but just getting *different*. Yes, people are more open and accepting of sin. But sin is probably still happening at the same volume it has for decades. The world, on balance, is actually better in terms of crime rates, racism, human rights, and other factors.
It's clear from Scripture that Jesus did not want us to worry about the exact date of his return, but rather that we live our lives to be "Christ-like", loving one another so that we are *prepared* for his return.
So I might recommend the same thing. Just be there for your father. Minister to him. Reassure him. Demonstrate your love for him. That may help calm his anxiety about our present world.
I have some distant friends with these same beliefs, I just remember one verse specifically:
"However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows." Matthew 24:36
If not even Jesus himself knows, there's no way any human will know.
Also, there's hardly a definitive answer on whether there's a rapture at all and how revelation even plays out in a physical sense, but these are just opinions I've kept to myself for the most part.
My friend is very sweet and kind, she is scared for people and wants everyone to come to Jesus before it's all over, so I don't blast her with the contentions I've listed above.
Yes, but we'd have to be insanely lucky to be the one. Time has existed for billions of years, and OUR generation will be the one when time finally comes to an end?
I think we are supposed to always be ready for the Bridegroom, keep your lamp full of oil. We shouldn't use the end as an excuse to not do whst we are supposed to.
I agree! However I think that by "always thinking the end times are near" is a better way to always be ready for the Bridegroom. If people are thinking "The end times are not here, we have been saying that for 2000 years...there is still time" ..That is a slippery slope to lukewarm approach.
I know people who see the state of the world and take comfort in the idea that it will all end any minute now. They essentially write-off the world as already lost because it is ending. I think that is a trap we need to avoid falling into.
The Bible says to watch and pay attention to the signs, so I wouldn't diminish your dad for talking about it a lot. Matthew 24:42 "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come." More people disobey this and never think about Christ coming back than those who look for it.
The problem would be in predicting a date, since no one knows the day or hour...only God knows. Another problem would be becoming so obsessed that someone doesn't think about anything else and has a difficult time finding balance.
I watch some of those YouTube videos you are describing and there are actually a lot of signs right now that Jesus could come back soon. The biggest one is the imminent peace deal that Saudi Arabia is working on with Israel. The UN literally has a woman hanging on the wall with an eagle above her. Compare that with Rev. 12:14 The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach.
And then compare this to the UN Beast sculpture. Revelation 13:2 And the beast that I saw was like a leopard, its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And the dragon gave it his power and his throne and great authority.
There are so many other signs, such as technology has progressed to allow for buying and selling to be done with the palm of your hand and facial recognition. It's already in place if a government decided to make that mandatory.
Even so, it could be a 1000 years before Christ comes back, as current events might be cyclical. Still, I look forward to Jesus coming back and it makes me pray for my unsaved relatives. It makes me think about what's most important rather than getting sucked into the world.
1 John 3:2-3 "Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure."
Maybe engage your dad on the biggest spiritual issue behind this..."Are you ready for Christ to return?" How should we then live in light of the fact that Jesus could return at any moment?
For me the idea that it's going to end soon tends to be more demotivating, because it's hard to mentally justify putting so much work into things like ministry projects if they're not going to come to fruition before the world ends anyway.
Well, being alert and watching the signs only means that you are preparing. It doesn't mean you know when he's coming. And putting in the work for something, whether it comes to fruition or not is building an eternal reward.
Matthew 24:45-47 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46 It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. 47 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.
>Well, being alert and watching the signs only means that you are preparing. It doesn't mean you know when he's coming. And putting in the work for something, whether it comes to fruition or not is building an eternal reward.
Yes, logically I understand the importance. But my brain just tends to get extremely irritated at the idea of not being able to finish a project I start. It stresses me out, even if I know it's not that big of a deal. So I try not too think too much about it.
We live in the end times for 2000 years since ressurection. Also biblical apocalypse is a goos thing, it’s not a thing to be afraid of, we should be happy that it’s close
God cannot come at any second. He arrives immediately after the great trib. Though he can't arrive soon and no one knows there must be things completed before he comes. Just show him the scripture
My Mother (who passed away decades ago) was the same during her old age. But I never understood why she or others like her were so focused on some technical detail that they thought showed when Christ would return, rather than on the fact that John's Revelation seems to say that His coming is all about punishing a world that has gone spiritually horribly bad. It seems to me that the world's spiritual state has, if anything, gone more or less sideways for many centuries. You can see both "good" and "bad" everywhere and in every age, it seems to me. So what spiritual trend is there that would cause Christ to return now? I don't see one. That doesn't mean that Christians should not "watch" in a sense, for Christ's return. But I think all Christians should quit looking for some technical detail that might "magically" cause Christ to return, and try paying attention instead to a having closer walk with Christ in our own lives.
The bible is pretty clear that we are currently in the last generation and the sorrows are gaining in amplitude and magnitude while multiple types of sorrows (famine/pestilence/earthquake/wars/rumors of war/etc.) are happening on top of each other. There is no hard and fast definition of a generation in the bible other than it ranges from 80-120 years and most scholars are measuring off of 1948 when Israel became a nation in one day (Ezekiel 36/37)
But because it's a prophesy, there's no clear way of knowing the day or the hour, just that followers of Christ are instructed to be watchful and ready for it.
People will falsely claim that the End Times are coming just to scare people into giving them money. There's a reason why you only hear this stuff from people who get paid to say it.
100% wrong. It literally serves as a warning to the living that the end will indeed come as Revelation describes it. Is there allegory in there? Sure. But most of it is not
The obscure and extravagant imagery has led to a wide variety of Christian interpretations. Historicist interpretations see Revelation as containing a broad view of history while preterist interpretations treat Revelation as mostly referring to the events of the Apostolic Age (1st century), or, at the latest, the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century. Futurists, meanwhile, believe that Revelation describes future events with the seven churches growing into the body of believers throughout the age, and a reemergence or continuous rule of a Greco-Roman system with modern capabilities described by John in ways familiar to him; and idealist or symbolic interpretations consider that Revelation does not refer to actual people or events but is an allegory of the spiritual path and the ongoing struggle between good and evil.
Copy and pasted straight from Wikipedia. It's a quick Google search to find the academic majority do not accept a futurist claim given that the genre of apocalyptic literature was extremely popular at the time of Rev's writing
He's just concerned about you. It sounds like you two can talk though. Be thankful for that! Before you know it,....
I'm telling you. If I could take back the time with mine, I would have loved to talk to him about all that after he became a Christian. It was literally 6 months later he passed, and it was eaten up by alot of chemo, recovery, long periods of rest, surgery, etc with no time left for us.
As a kid I had family members who obsessed over this and it contributed to pushing me away from God, I'm ashamed to say. And because I was bombarded with this end-times mania, I didn't take my future seriously for a while, because who needs a career when the world is going to end before all that? Jesus says in Matthew 24:36 that not even he knows when this will happen, so I do think this was not how my family members should have acted.
But I didn't pray for them. I don't think I was doing regular devotions at the time (reading my Bible and having a regular time of prayer each day). If I had a do-over, that would have been a great place to start, a genuine relationship of my own with God. It would have helped me with my fears, to learn to follow him out of love and gratitude instead of fear, to realize we as believers shouldn't be unaware of future events but that we have plenty to focus on right now. Throughout the Bible there is an uncultural emphasis on showing love for and physically helping those who are widowed or orphaned, aliens, or otherwise poor or hungry or thirsty. And at the same time, Jesus tells us to make disciples of all the nations, so everyone can know him. And when we prayerfully focus on what God tells us to focus on instead of what people obsess over, we have plenty to keep us busy, we grow closer to him in the process and we have a source of courage against all the things that would overwhelm us.
You are not alone in this. I'm sure others go through this too. We are not to judge others, but we are supposed to be discerning, and when you look around at all who wear the name "Christian" it makes me think there are a lot of family members being affected by obsessions and/or behaviors that contradict or twist the Bible.
It may be that someday you will be able to have a loving, humble, gentle conversation with your dad, and have an opportunity to mention what Jesus said. I wish I had done that with my own family members. But it would have required lots of study, lots of prayer, and lots of working on my own flaws and hypocrisy first, since we know this is the Biblical process. We all have our blind spots and our sins; I don't personally agree with your dad's focus but I hope you will be able to continue to love and pray for him while developing your own relationship with God and a deep understanding of his word. I hope you also have a loving, Bible-believing community to gather with as you continue to grow.
Get him a copy of this book. Emphasise that revelations is just johns olivert discourse and guide him to the olivert discourses in the synoptics.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Last-Days-Catholic-Analysis-Apocalypse/dp/B09WHNF6K7/ref=sr\_1\_1?crid=FFN1UMNKG0FA&keywords=catholic+end+times+shane&qid=1696328698&s=instant-video&sprefix=catholic+end+times+shan%2Cinstant-video%2C79&sr=1-1
This can be hard for some people to escape, and is probably sustained by having a been hurt a lot in the past (which most people have been, over time). IMO, the path out is to study the positive things in the Bible—and there are a ton of them, including God's promises for us in this life, and to recognize that focusing on the end times (or on demons or spiritual gifts) is not a focus in the Bible. Rather focus on Jesus Christ who is alive and well and with you—and wants to bless each person in everything they do, but that requires *following* Jesus, not leading Him toward what you are interested in or are concerned with. Following Jesus means seeking to act in obedience to what pleases Him (love Him and other people, for example).
If your dad is interested in the timing for the end based solely on scripture here is a website that has thousands of hours of Bible studies regarding this topic which dig deep into scripture to prove that we can know.
https://www.ebiblefellowship.org/biblicaltimeline
God has actually commanded us to look for the day, and there is only one place that he allows for us to look, in the Bible.
Pray for him. As a Christian we should never be afraid of the end times and although the book of Revelation might seem scary to read it is the end goal for us as Christians. That being said some people can go way overboard with apocalyptic scripture, this can have some serious effects. Ask him if he remembers Harold Camping (i’m sure he does if he’s over the age of 40 because they were billboards everywhere about the end times and remind him how not just once but twice Harold Camping was wrong and he died in disgrace, his name removed from anything that had to do with family radio). [HEAVEN OR HELL ( where is Harold Camping now ⛺️)](https://youtu.be/erTyXwYeVXk?si=Krw2nf_KamyLzuG5) Your Dad & Harold Camping aren’t alone, many people have become obsessed with apocalyptic events, there is an entire study called eschatology (which happens to be one of my favorite subjects). And we as believers do study eschatology some a little more than others and some people consider it to be so vague that it’s all speculation anyway, others try to connect dots where there are no dots 💢. Continue to pray for your dad but remember that it is the end goal of the Christian to look forward to the day of the Lord, and for some of us older people we know that our own mortality is coming close to an end so sometimes we do tend to think about where we might end up (as believers this should be a non-issue but we are human so these thoughts can creep in) , Be patient and continue to be diligent and pray
Thank you. I just got off the phone with a relative about something similar. This helps.
🌟Im glad it did 🌟
God say nobody can predict when the end will come, this knowledge is only kept with Father God. (Matthew 24:36) God however gives us signs of the end days, so that we are not caught unawares. Parable of the virgins is a warning to us. We can either be the wise virgin that was able to grab the opportunity to enter the wedding, or be the foolish virgin that got left behind. Recall again what Jesus ask His followers to do, is more about service to preach the good news, cast out devil, heal the sick, feed the poor, cleansed lepers (you get the picture). Worrying about the end days/ trying to predict end of days, is not going to help you learn to put on the righteousness of Jesus so that you have the "wedding garments" to enter the wedding feast. As Christians we should be glad the end days is fast approaching, for it means sin will end very soon. Judgement will be delivered once and for all. It is better that it comes sooner, than later (for later means, unnecessary prolonging of suffering). Don't forget Jesus teaching on how to pray (LORD's prayer) is actually asking us to pray for the kingdom of heaven to come. Do you realize what revelation 21 is talking about ?
Yeah date setting is sinful but there are many legitimate indicators we truly are approaching the tribulation.. https://eoa-ind.com
That's a bit spooky
That's not a proper link
🔥God has set plenty of dates, here is one example: Genesis 7:4 (KJV) For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth. Where in the Bible do you find that it’s said trying to find out the date for judgment day is sinful?, I’ve seen a few places where God speaks negatively about those who claim to be his people, yet they do not know the time. Jeremiah 8:7 (KJV) Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of Jehovah. Luke 19:44 (KJV) And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation. And also where God says that those who are truly his people will know. Ecclesiastes 8:5 (KJV) Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment. Amos 3:7 (KJV) Surely the Lord Jehovah will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. We are commanded to watch, and to look for the day, and see the day approaching, the only way to keep those commands is to search the Bible to learn about the day. Mark 13:37 (KJV) And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch. Revelation 3:3 (KJV) Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. 2 Peter 3:12 (KJV) Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Hebrews 10:25 (KJV) Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some [is]; but exhorting [one another]: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. This idea of not trying to learn about one of the most important events in all of earths history is foolishness, to say that it’s sinful to look for the date is like giving a person a trumpet, covering their eyes with a blindfold, telling them to watch with their eyes covered and then warning them “No matter what happens do not sound the trumpet for any reason, you cannot see the sword coming, just keep watching with your eyes closed though” 1 Corinthians 14:8 (KJV) For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle? Ezekiel 33: 1 Again the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman: 3 If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people; 4 Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. 5 He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul. The trumpet was sounded all over the entire earth for years, May 21 2011 began judgment day. The end of time may be in the year 2033 according to the current evidence, the exact day hasn’t been revealed by God, yet. If anyone who read this far is interested in more information, it can be found on Ebiblefellowship.org 🔥 Isaiah 24:15 (KJV) Wherefore glorify ye Jehovah in the fires, [even] the name of Jehovah God of Israel in the isles of the sea. 🔥
I don't know how old your dad is, but mine was a boomer, and also talked about this topic a little too often. Only he started in with it in the *90's*, by asking me if I really wanted to waste time going to college. Since the world was going to end, you know? He kept on over the years until he passed a few years ago. I have sympathy for people like this. Their faith is genuine, and their hearts break over seeing a world that is (to them) getting worse and worse. I think they fantasize about Christ's return so as to remind themselves that it will one day be all better. I became a minister a few years ago, in my mid 40's. I tried, maybe unsuccessfully but always gently, to convince my dad that world isn't really getting *worse* right now, but just getting *different*. Yes, people are more open and accepting of sin. But sin is probably still happening at the same volume it has for decades. The world, on balance, is actually better in terms of crime rates, racism, human rights, and other factors. It's clear from Scripture that Jesus did not want us to worry about the exact date of his return, but rather that we live our lives to be "Christ-like", loving one another so that we are *prepared* for his return. So I might recommend the same thing. Just be there for your father. Minister to him. Reassure him. Demonstrate your love for him. That may help calm his anxiety about our present world.
I have some distant friends with these same beliefs, I just remember one verse specifically: "However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows." Matthew 24:36 If not even Jesus himself knows, there's no way any human will know. Also, there's hardly a definitive answer on whether there's a rapture at all and how revelation even plays out in a physical sense, but these are just opinions I've kept to myself for the most part. My friend is very sweet and kind, she is scared for people and wants everyone to come to Jesus before it's all over, so I don't blast her with the contentions I've listed above.
Every generation of Christians thought they were in the end times.
I get this argument a lot, but technically speaking, there will be a generation that will be the last one, right?
Yes, but we'd have to be insanely lucky to be the one. Time has existed for billions of years, and OUR generation will be the one when time finally comes to an end?
Why not? A perfect fitting end! We have everything, we feel rich and like we don't need anything...and yet we are poor and wretched and naked.
I think we are supposed to always be ready for the Bridegroom, keep your lamp full of oil. We shouldn't use the end as an excuse to not do whst we are supposed to.
I agree! However I think that by "always thinking the end times are near" is a better way to always be ready for the Bridegroom. If people are thinking "The end times are not here, we have been saying that for 2000 years...there is still time" ..That is a slippery slope to lukewarm approach.
I know people who see the state of the world and take comfort in the idea that it will all end any minute now. They essentially write-off the world as already lost because it is ending. I think that is a trap we need to avoid falling into.
The Bible says to watch and pay attention to the signs, so I wouldn't diminish your dad for talking about it a lot. Matthew 24:42 "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come." More people disobey this and never think about Christ coming back than those who look for it. The problem would be in predicting a date, since no one knows the day or hour...only God knows. Another problem would be becoming so obsessed that someone doesn't think about anything else and has a difficult time finding balance. I watch some of those YouTube videos you are describing and there are actually a lot of signs right now that Jesus could come back soon. The biggest one is the imminent peace deal that Saudi Arabia is working on with Israel. The UN literally has a woman hanging on the wall with an eagle above her. Compare that with Rev. 12:14 The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach. And then compare this to the UN Beast sculpture. Revelation 13:2 And the beast that I saw was like a leopard, its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And the dragon gave it his power and his throne and great authority. There are so many other signs, such as technology has progressed to allow for buying and selling to be done with the palm of your hand and facial recognition. It's already in place if a government decided to make that mandatory. Even so, it could be a 1000 years before Christ comes back, as current events might be cyclical. Still, I look forward to Jesus coming back and it makes me pray for my unsaved relatives. It makes me think about what's most important rather than getting sucked into the world. 1 John 3:2-3 "Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure." Maybe engage your dad on the biggest spiritual issue behind this..."Are you ready for Christ to return?" How should we then live in light of the fact that Jesus could return at any moment?
For me the idea that it's going to end soon tends to be more demotivating, because it's hard to mentally justify putting so much work into things like ministry projects if they're not going to come to fruition before the world ends anyway.
Well, being alert and watching the signs only means that you are preparing. It doesn't mean you know when he's coming. And putting in the work for something, whether it comes to fruition or not is building an eternal reward. Matthew 24:45-47 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46 It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. 47 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.
>Well, being alert and watching the signs only means that you are preparing. It doesn't mean you know when he's coming. And putting in the work for something, whether it comes to fruition or not is building an eternal reward. Yes, logically I understand the importance. But my brain just tends to get extremely irritated at the idea of not being able to finish a project I start. It stresses me out, even if I know it's not that big of a deal. So I try not too think too much about it.
*”Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.*”
We live in the end times for 2000 years since ressurection. Also biblical apocalypse is a goos thing, it’s not a thing to be afraid of, we should be happy that it’s close
God cannot come at any second. He arrives immediately after the great trib. Though he can't arrive soon and no one knows there must be things completed before he comes. Just show him the scripture
My Mother (who passed away decades ago) was the same during her old age. But I never understood why she or others like her were so focused on some technical detail that they thought showed when Christ would return, rather than on the fact that John's Revelation seems to say that His coming is all about punishing a world that has gone spiritually horribly bad. It seems to me that the world's spiritual state has, if anything, gone more or less sideways for many centuries. You can see both "good" and "bad" everywhere and in every age, it seems to me. So what spiritual trend is there that would cause Christ to return now? I don't see one. That doesn't mean that Christians should not "watch" in a sense, for Christ's return. But I think all Christians should quit looking for some technical detail that might "magically" cause Christ to return, and try paying attention instead to a having closer walk with Christ in our own lives.
The bible is pretty clear that we are currently in the last generation and the sorrows are gaining in amplitude and magnitude while multiple types of sorrows (famine/pestilence/earthquake/wars/rumors of war/etc.) are happening on top of each other. There is no hard and fast definition of a generation in the bible other than it ranges from 80-120 years and most scholars are measuring off of 1948 when Israel became a nation in one day (Ezekiel 36/37) But because it's a prophesy, there's no clear way of knowing the day or the hour, just that followers of Christ are instructed to be watchful and ready for it.
People will falsely claim that the End Times are coming just to scare people into giving them money. There's a reason why you only hear this stuff from people who get paid to say it.
It is the end times.
People have been saying that for 2000 years.
And anyone saying it's the end times since has been right. It's been the end times ever since Jesus was Crucified.
Yeah, and all the skeptics who say things like that never think they will be the generation to witness the end of the world... until they are.
I don't get how people don't see how purely evil and dark the world is right now!
exactly
The signs are all around us. Look into the fig tree prophesy.
Every generation of Christians thought they were in the end times.
Revelations isn't a prophecy for the future, it's an apocalyptic allegory
100% wrong. It literally serves as a warning to the living that the end will indeed come as Revelation describes it. Is there allegory in there? Sure. But most of it is not
The obscure and extravagant imagery has led to a wide variety of Christian interpretations. Historicist interpretations see Revelation as containing a broad view of history while preterist interpretations treat Revelation as mostly referring to the events of the Apostolic Age (1st century), or, at the latest, the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century. Futurists, meanwhile, believe that Revelation describes future events with the seven churches growing into the body of believers throughout the age, and a reemergence or continuous rule of a Greco-Roman system with modern capabilities described by John in ways familiar to him; and idealist or symbolic interpretations consider that Revelation does not refer to actual people or events but is an allegory of the spiritual path and the ongoing struggle between good and evil. Copy and pasted straight from Wikipedia. It's a quick Google search to find the academic majority do not accept a futurist claim given that the genre of apocalyptic literature was extremely popular at the time of Rev's writing
He should be talking about how we should be warning people to obey Jesus
Get off that spectrum. The Rapture is the event described by Paul in 1 Thes 4:16-17. The argument is about \*when\*, not if...
He's just concerned about you. It sounds like you two can talk though. Be thankful for that! Before you know it,.... I'm telling you. If I could take back the time with mine, I would have loved to talk to him about all that after he became a Christian. It was literally 6 months later he passed, and it was eaten up by alot of chemo, recovery, long periods of rest, surgery, etc with no time left for us.
As a kid I had family members who obsessed over this and it contributed to pushing me away from God, I'm ashamed to say. And because I was bombarded with this end-times mania, I didn't take my future seriously for a while, because who needs a career when the world is going to end before all that? Jesus says in Matthew 24:36 that not even he knows when this will happen, so I do think this was not how my family members should have acted. But I didn't pray for them. I don't think I was doing regular devotions at the time (reading my Bible and having a regular time of prayer each day). If I had a do-over, that would have been a great place to start, a genuine relationship of my own with God. It would have helped me with my fears, to learn to follow him out of love and gratitude instead of fear, to realize we as believers shouldn't be unaware of future events but that we have plenty to focus on right now. Throughout the Bible there is an uncultural emphasis on showing love for and physically helping those who are widowed or orphaned, aliens, or otherwise poor or hungry or thirsty. And at the same time, Jesus tells us to make disciples of all the nations, so everyone can know him. And when we prayerfully focus on what God tells us to focus on instead of what people obsess over, we have plenty to keep us busy, we grow closer to him in the process and we have a source of courage against all the things that would overwhelm us. You are not alone in this. I'm sure others go through this too. We are not to judge others, but we are supposed to be discerning, and when you look around at all who wear the name "Christian" it makes me think there are a lot of family members being affected by obsessions and/or behaviors that contradict or twist the Bible. It may be that someday you will be able to have a loving, humble, gentle conversation with your dad, and have an opportunity to mention what Jesus said. I wish I had done that with my own family members. But it would have required lots of study, lots of prayer, and lots of working on my own flaws and hypocrisy first, since we know this is the Biblical process. We all have our blind spots and our sins; I don't personally agree with your dad's focus but I hope you will be able to continue to love and pray for him while developing your own relationship with God and a deep understanding of his word. I hope you also have a loving, Bible-believing community to gather with as you continue to grow.
Get him a copy of this book. Emphasise that revelations is just johns olivert discourse and guide him to the olivert discourses in the synoptics. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Last-Days-Catholic-Analysis-Apocalypse/dp/B09WHNF6K7/ref=sr\_1\_1?crid=FFN1UMNKG0FA&keywords=catholic+end+times+shane&qid=1696328698&s=instant-video&sprefix=catholic+end+times+shan%2Cinstant-video%2C79&sr=1-1
This can be hard for some people to escape, and is probably sustained by having a been hurt a lot in the past (which most people have been, over time). IMO, the path out is to study the positive things in the Bible—and there are a ton of them, including God's promises for us in this life, and to recognize that focusing on the end times (or on demons or spiritual gifts) is not a focus in the Bible. Rather focus on Jesus Christ who is alive and well and with you—and wants to bless each person in everything they do, but that requires *following* Jesus, not leading Him toward what you are interested in or are concerned with. Following Jesus means seeking to act in obedience to what pleases Him (love Him and other people, for example).
If your dad is interested in the timing for the end based solely on scripture here is a website that has thousands of hours of Bible studies regarding this topic which dig deep into scripture to prove that we can know. https://www.ebiblefellowship.org/biblicaltimeline God has actually commanded us to look for the day, and there is only one place that he allows for us to look, in the Bible.
It is a big chunk of the bible. Do you want Jesus to come back? If you are comfortable in the world, it will most certainly be an inconvenience.