Red Sky at Morning
Superstar
- Joined
- Mar 15, 2017
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I have often heard the phrase from Matthew 24:36 used in conjunction with the return of the Lord:-
Jesus infers to the Church of Sardis in Revelation 3 that he will come upon them as a thief in the night...
On the other hand, there is an element of ambiguity as 1 Thessalonians 5 seems to suggest there may be believers who are not overtaken as a thief...
The Gospels record records of some who were expecting the first advent of Jesus. Simeon and Anna perhaps didn't know exactly when He would arrive but they had an idea on it. Maybe they were aware of the prophecy of Daniels 70 weeks? For me, and others, this is where the concept of "high watch times" comes in...
YouTube is full of speculation on possible dates based on patterns people have spotted which may have significance. Some sounds crazy, other are very thoughtful. It's easy to make fun of them but I'm sure the folk who looked for the coming Messiah the first time had a similar reaction.
The feasts of the Lord pattern the key interactions with Jesus in world history.
Every year the "Fall Feasts" pattern future events that will one day come on some as a thief in the night, and to others as their hearts desire. This year the "Feast of Trumpets" falls on Sept 10th/11th* (Depending on whether the calendar is a month out, this puts the fall feasts a month ahead.) These are "high watch times" but not to be confused with over-confident date-setting predictions.
For years, well meaning Christians have taken possibilities and turned them into confident but incorrect predictions. So much mocking has followed. The way I have come to think about it is that if you were to be waiting at a station for a train coming in a long, deep valley, you would hear echoes long before the train itself arrived.
Of course, those who reject the "blessed hope" will pour scorn and contempt on such "logic" but Jesus never promised that following Him would make you particularly popular!
Perhaps those who have been watching for that train for a while will take my meaning.
I thought it might be worth having a thread where these "high watch times" could be acknowledged without pretending to be predictions or claims. It might raise a few eyebrows but who knows, one day this might be the most explosive thread here!
"But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only."
Jesus infers to the Church of Sardis in Revelation 3 that he will come upon them as a thief in the night...
"Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you."
On the other hand, there is an element of ambiguity as 1 Thessalonians 5 seems to suggest there may be believers who are not overtaken as a thief...
4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. 5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.b7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. 8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. 9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him."
The Gospels record records of some who were expecting the first advent of Jesus. Simeon and Anna perhaps didn't know exactly when He would arrive but they had an idea on it. Maybe they were aware of the prophecy of Daniels 70 weeks? For me, and others, this is where the concept of "high watch times" comes in...
YouTube is full of speculation on possible dates based on patterns people have spotted which may have significance. Some sounds crazy, other are very thoughtful. It's easy to make fun of them but I'm sure the folk who looked for the coming Messiah the first time had a similar reaction.
The feasts of the Lord pattern the key interactions with Jesus in world history.
Every year the "Fall Feasts" pattern future events that will one day come on some as a thief in the night, and to others as their hearts desire. This year the "Feast of Trumpets" falls on Sept 10th/11th* (Depending on whether the calendar is a month out, this puts the fall feasts a month ahead.) These are "high watch times" but not to be confused with over-confident date-setting predictions.
For years, well meaning Christians have taken possibilities and turned them into confident but incorrect predictions. So much mocking has followed. The way I have come to think about it is that if you were to be waiting at a station for a train coming in a long, deep valley, you would hear echoes long before the train itself arrived.
Of course, those who reject the "blessed hope" will pour scorn and contempt on such "logic" but Jesus never promised that following Him would make you particularly popular!
Perhaps those who have been watching for that train for a while will take my meaning.
I thought it might be worth having a thread where these "high watch times" could be acknowledged without pretending to be predictions or claims. It might raise a few eyebrows but who knows, one day this might be the most explosive thread here!
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