Posted on 01/20/2005 1:01:34 PM PST by missyme
no offense to anyone, but the world ends everyday for many, so I suggest you live in peace and savor each day you have...."for thy worries will availith nothing"
You will be able to massage the words into many meanings, but only those so blessed can read the true message, which is why is was written the way it was.......Look to the Bible and be optimistic, and yuor eyes will see the truth......
The Lord loves this island Earth, and those facinating life forms: especially humans......you might be surprized, but humans have been basically good stewards of this planet, no matter what the MSM says......
WRONG.
Your assertion is Not remotely logical in context.
When taking the whole counsel of fitting Scriptures on the issue, it's even further from logical.
This is as close as I've come.
bump
Not sure where you get the "testing" idea. I don't think I mentioned it.
The Israelites in the wilderness were not there for 40 years to be "tested". They were there for the entire generation that had sinned aginst the Lord to die off. "... until the entire generation of those who had done evil in the sight of the LORD was destroyed."
"This generation" that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24:34 was not there for the purpose of being tested. They were being identified as the generation on which God wrath would fall.
"Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation." (Matt. 23:34-36)
"For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled." (Luke 21:22)
No, I was the one who mentioned it and perhaps I should have elaborated a bit more. The 4th generation was to die in the wilderness and were not to enter the promised land. They were to be tested or proven:
Deu 8:2
And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.
Also there descendents, many if not all of whom were born in the wilderness had 40 years to learn and practice all the sanctuary rituals and laws. A Levitical priest had to be at least 30 years old before being anointed and serve in that capacity. So in that sense, it was a period of trial or testing also, if you will, for this generation of new, maybe we can say, converts. The rituals, feasts, sacrifices, etc. was all new to these people just coming out from Mount Sinai. Forty years was the time allotted for the 4th generation to die off and the 5th generation to learn and grow in YHWH's precepts. It was a period of cleansing by getting rid of the evil and simultaneously restoring the new. Although Scripture does not mention what would have happened had YHWH's commands not been obeyed by the 5th generation, I'm certain they would not have entered the promised land. The end result was the evil died and the righteous lived. When Moses was on Mount Sinai for 40 days with YHWH, it was a time of great Spiritual refreshing, cleansing, learning, testing of one's worthiness, to say the least:
Deu 9:11
And it came to pass at the end of forty days and forty nights, that the LORD gave me the two tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant.
The second time Moses went up, with a repentful attitude for the sins of the idolators, demonstrated by fasting for 40 days, and seeking a cleansing from sin and evil.
Deu 9:18
And I fell down before the LORD, as at the first, forty days and forty nights: I did neither eat bread, nor drink water, because of all your sins which ye sinned, in doing wickedly in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.
We see a similar example when Y'hshua spent 40 days with his apostles, after his resurrection, instructing them and I'm sure testing to make sure all was understood:
Act 1:3
To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:
Another way to analyze the 40 years, is with respect to the passover. From the passover in Egypt to Joghua's entering the promised land was 40 years. From Y'hshua's passover death to destruction of the temple in 70AD and dispersion of the Jews, was likewise, 40 years. The evil died and the righteous survived. The evil snake received the deadly wound and we received salvation through Y'hshua, he lived. Your example in Matt. 23:34-36 is excellent. These hypocritical Pharisees and Scribes, since the days of their ancestors, had persecuted YHWH's prophets. In verse 32 Y'hshua says "Fill ye up the measure of your Fathers." In other words, you have just filled the cup of iniquity (evil) and I've had enough. After Y'hshua's death, a period of 40 years was allotted for this current, evil generation to die off and the new born generation to accept, learn, and practice the laws under the New Covenant that Y'hshua's death made possible. However, after 40 years of trial or testing or learning , for lack of a better word, for this new upcoming generation, they failed to accept the doctrines and teachings of the apostles and continued to persecute YHWH's followers and walk in the same practices as their fathers. This resulted, as Y'hshua had prophesied, in the destruction of the temple and the death of more than a million Jews in 70 AD. This was a similar example of a cleansing of the evil.
Another example of 40 years of severe testing and death if one fails the test by doing evil in the eyes of YHWH, is in:
Jdg 13:1
And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.
Another example of how YHWH uses the number 40 as a time measurement of destuction and cleansing is during the 40 days of rain during the time of Noah. During those 40 days all the evil perished out of the land. The righteous survived, the evil died.
There are many examples like these throughout Scripture. I have never found an example of where 40 is used to denote the lifespan of a generation. However, if you find one, please let me know. I don't claim infallability like the Pope. In contrast, I find many places, as shown above, where it is used to test or educate the new upcoming generation and destroy the old evil generation.
May YHWH Bless you in your search for TRUTH.
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Dear missyme,
Your artical is provocative and not too much off the
mark... May I consider that you approach these ancient documents with the perspective of the populations around the time they were written.
First off, most insights were perceived from an astrological point of veiw(most kings highered their own
astrological staff for private consol)
The perameters of this rational is quite different than that of todays. In order to have a better understanting of these ancient prophecies, it would be useful to understand the way in which those prophets reasoned.
Concepts and the Epiphany of ideas were much more
important than actual times and places. For example,
"Let all those in Judea flee to the mountains" has been
interpretted in prophetic language as "let all those in
the world flee to the mountains. Do not go back to fetch
your cloak."
Interpretting such prophecies, one usually comes to a cusp in time(not precise) to choose a moment, in a time-line as to when these events may come to pass. For example, the wisemen did not know exactly when the wonderful event would take place(some gospel accounts
suggest the wisemen didn't find the Christ-child until
He was two)
My point is that prophecy of the Bible does NOT fit into the fast-paced, right handed way of this modern world
with all its agendas. If you will permit me, that's like
saying that The Age of Aquarius will come exactly on midnight, 1999-2000.
More likely, according to studying the Great Vision
of Daniel, the cusp of ages will come about around the year 2029 AD. Perhaps, some natural disaster may intercede, such as a pole-shift. To quote Mathew 24 again, "...and if that time had not been shortened,
no one would survive. But shortened that time will
be for the sake of the chosen."
I urge you to consider ancient dynamics before interpretting Biblical prophecy. You do have vision
missme, please study more of those times and you'll
probably discover more prophetic links than I
have +)
Thank you!
Dear missyme,
Your article is provocative and not too much off the
mark... May I consider that you approach these ancient documents with the perspective of the populations around the time they were written.
First off, most insights were perceived from an astrological point of view(most kings highered their own
astrological staff for private consol)
The parameters of this rational is quite different than that of todays. In order to have a better understanding of these ancient prophecies, it would be useful to understand the way in which those prophets reasoned.
Concepts and the Epiphany of ideas were much more
important than actual times and places. For example,
"Let all those in Judea flee to the mountains" has been
interpreted in prophetic language as "let all those in
the world flee to the mountains. Do not go back to fetch
your cloak."
Interpreting such prophecies, one usually comes to a cusp in time(not precise) to choose a moment, in a time-line as to when these events may come to pass. For example, the wise men did not know exactly when the wonderful event would take place(some gospel accounts
suggest the wise men didn't find the Christ-child until
He was two)
My point is that prophecy of the Bible does NOT fit into the fast-paced, right handed way of this modern world
with all its agendas. If you will permit me, that's like
saying that The Age of Aquarius will come exactly on midnight, 1999-2000.
More likely, according to studying the Great Vision
of Daniel, the cusp of ages will come about around the year 2029 AD. Perhaps, some natural disaster may intercede, such as a pole-shift. To quote Matthew 24 again, "...and if that time had not been shortened,
no one would survive. But shortened that time will
be for the sake of the chosen."
I urge you to consider ancient dynamics before interpreting Biblical prophecy. You do have vision
missme, please study more of those times and you'll
probably discover more prophetic links than I
have +)
Thank you!
Dear missyme,
Your article is provocative and not too much off the
mark... May I consider that you approach these ancient documents with the perspective of the populations around the time they were written.
First off, most insights were perceived from an astrological point of view(most kings highered their own
astrological staff for private consol)
The parameters of this rational is quite different than that of todays. In order to have a better understanding of these ancient prophecies, it would be useful to understand the way in which those prophets reasoned.
Concepts and the Epiphany of ideas were much more
important than actual times and places. For example,
"Let all those in Judea flee to the mountains" has been
interpreted in prophetic language as "let all those in
the world flee to the mountains. Do not go back to fetch
your cloak."
Interpreting such prophecies, one usually comes to a cusp in time(not precise) to choose a moment, in a time-line as to when these events may come to pass. For example, the wise men did not know exactly when the wonderful event would take place(some gospel accounts
suggest the wise men didn't find the Christ-child until
He was two)
My point is that prophecy of the Bible does NOT fit into the fast-paced, right handed way of this modern world
with all its agendas. If you will permit me, that's like
saying that The Age of Aquarius will come exactly on midnight, 1999-2000.
More likely, according to studying the Great Vision
of Daniel, the cusp of ages will come about around the year 2029 AD. Perhaps, some natural disaster may intercede, such as a pole-shift. To quote Matthew 24 again, "...and if that time had not been shortened,
no one would survive. But shortened that time will
be for the sake of the chosen."
I urge you to consider ancient dynamics before interpreting Biblical prophecy. You do have vision
missme, please study more of those times and you'll
probably discover more prophetic links than I
have +)
Thank you!
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