Posted on 12/06/2022 8:04:17 AM PST by Roman_War_Criminal
I still won’t get the 45 seconds back.
And I wasn’t mocking; I was annoyed by your getting carried away over your own eloquence while still failing to admit the obvious.
His words *will* never pass away, but He still didn’t mention volcanoes as a sign of the end times. Just because Isaiah 26 sounded like it described a volcano, doesn’t mean THAT verse was talking about the End Times.
Because volcano eruptions (something which is never specifically named but is sometimes apparently described in the Bible) can cause tidal waves, WHICH ARE IN THE END TIMES PROPHETIC passages like Luke 21...
AND because they might be reasonably described in Biblical times as “earthquakes”, ALSO NAMED IN Luke 21, accompanied by fire...
AND because during the end times Day of the Lord the earth will be destroyed by fire like Sodom and Gomora, an increase in volcanic activity is reasonably thought to be prophetically significant.
It certainly is no standalone sign, but your utter dismissal is mockery, though not the dangerous kind of mocking the Bible.
There are things that are prophetically significant that are not specifically mentioned in the Bible. For example, the Bible does not mention planes, trains, automobiles, the Internet, or smart phones. But they all may be relevant to end times Bible prophecy.
Daniel 12:4 NKJV
But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.
A few verses on the coming judgment of fire on the earth:
Luke 12:49 NKJV
I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?
Luke 17:26-30 NKJV
And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
Acts 2:19 NKJV
And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke.
2 Peter 3:7 NKJV
But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
It's not mockery; it is verbal precision.
Your handwaving makes a decentish case that volcanoes might come along for the ride along with the other things.
Except that "the earth being destroyed by fire" won't happen short of something the size of the Yellowstone Caldera erupting.
And your 2 Peter 3:7 seems like a misinterpretation if you're linking it to volcanos. Since it mentions the heavens and the earth; you're gonna have to take quite awhile to convince me a physical volcano on earth is going to take out the heavens.
The problem with Sola Sciptura Protties is that they play verbal word association games, where the engage in Biblical interpretation by searching by keyword, and dragging in every verse containing a word or phrase, and insist that all the verses are necessarily connected; and then contort and twist the verse to make it fit.
“And your 2 Peter 3:7 seems like a misinterpretation if you’re linking it to volcanos. Since it mentions the heavens and the earth; you’re gonna have to take quite awhile to convince me a physical volcano on earth is going to take out the heavens.”
Depends on what Peter is referring to by “heavens”. It certainly does not mean the 3rd Heaven, where God dwells. Since there are only 2 other “heavens” I take it that Peter is referring to the atmosphere and some of the space above the atmosphere. I do not believe this describes God destroying the observable universe.
The final judgment of earth during the Day of the Lord includes events that are cataclysmic in their level of destruction, take the form of fire (like the judgment of Sodom), and are global in scope (like Noah’s flood).
A little research into Noah’s flood will reveal that it also touched the “heavens” so to speak. The destruction of Sodom could possibly be from volcanic activity, but the “heavens” may have also been impacted. Or, it is possible that it was meteors or something else.
Peter was referring to the “heavens” that are now as being different from their form from creation until Noah’s flood. It appears that during this time there was a body of water above the atmosphere that separated the “heavens”. It may have been something like Saturn’s rings. This body of water collapsed at Noah’s flood. It didn’t simply rain. There was also a massive amount of water that exploded upward from the earth. This may have reached beyond the atmosphere. It may have been driven by the same forces that drive volcanic activity.
I’m not trying to argue that volcanic activity is part of the fiery destruction Peter describes in this passage. I’m only saying I personally would not rule it out. That’s not a matter of interpretation. It simply means that I don’t think any of us fully know how these prophecies will play out. I don’t think they are intended to be roadmaps but more of guideposts. After they happen we will understand more fully what they mean.
Misplaced post…
My point is not that increasing volcanic activity is a specific biblical sign, but I think it is noteworthy from a biblical perspective within the context of eschatology.
I provided a similar example of Daniel prophesying “many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.” Does this mean that Daniel prophesied smartphones, the Internet, planes, trains, and automobiles? No. Of course not. But haven’t those things contributed to the possibility of Daniel’s prophecy being fulfilled? I think so.
It is the same for speculations about the mark of the beast and antichrist, etc. Since these things have not yet come to pass, we can only speculate about how they will occur. That’s different than claiming that they are the fulfillment of prophecy. They’re not.
I’ll go further. Over the past several centuries there’ve been many false Christs, false prophets, and false teachers. There have been many wars. There have been many famines. There have been many plagues and natural disasters that have killed millions. There have been many persecutions of the followers of Christ. There have even been some “signs in the heavens”. Yet none of these things have been the specific signs Christ foretold in the Olivet Discourse.
We study His word. And we seek to obey it. And that includes the commands to “watch” and “wait” with regards to His soon return.
On this post, I agree with every word you said.
Shake hands, fren, and all’s well.
Thanks. I don’t always even completely agree with myself. So, it feels pretty good to have a word or two that convinces someone else to fully agree. ;-)
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