One of the main problems with the futurist view, and there are so many, is a basic lack of understanding of the nature of God's (or Jesus') presence and how they carried out judgment in the past. If futurist would just do a little OT reading, they would start to recognize divine judgment when they see it. We have 4 examples in the OT of God delivering judgment to 4 nations, Edom, Babylon, Egypt, and Israel all in the 6th century BC. In each instance He uses a foreign army to carry out this judgment and He uses the same or similar "sky is falling" "sun is dark" "heaven and earth shaken" type language to describe it. These are "Day of the Lord" events.
EDOM: Isa 34: 4 All the host of heaven shall be dissolved, And the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll; All their host shall fall down As the leaf falls from the vine, And as fruit falling from a fig tree. 5 “For My sword shall be bathed in heaven; Indeed it shall come down on Edom, And on the people of My curse, for judgment.
BABYLON: Isa 13: The burden against Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw. 9 Behold, the day of the Lord comes, Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, To lay the land desolate; And He will destroy its sinners from it. 10 For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not give their light; The sun will be darkened in its going forth, And the moon will not cause its light to shine. 11 “I will punish the world for its evil, And the wicked for their iniquity...
EGYPT Ezek 32: 7 When I put out your light, I will cover the heavens, and make its stars dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, And the moon shall not give her light. 8 All the bright lights of the heavens I will make dark over you, And bring darkness upon your land,”
Says the Lord God. 9 ‘I will also trouble the hearts of many peoples, when I bring your destruction among the nations, into the countries which you have not known. 10 Yes, I will make many peoples astonished at you, and their kings shall be horribly afraid of you when I brandish My sword before them; and they shall tremble every moment, every man for his own life, in the day of your fall.
‘For thus says the Lord God: “The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon you. 12 By the swords of the mighty warriors, all of them the most terrible of the nations, I will cause your multitude to fall. “They shall plunder the pomp of Egypt ,all its multitude shall be destroyed.
ISRAEL Joel 2: Blow the trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; For the day of the Lord is coming, For it is at hand: 2 A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness, Like the morning clouds spread over the mountains. A people come, great and strong, The like of whom has never been; Nor will there ever be any such after them, Even for many successive generations.
These "cosmic disturbances" did not mean the earth and universe was coming to an end. So when we see the same or similar language to discuss the return of Jesus in Mat 24 or Rev 6 against Israel and Jerusalem, we should not be shocked. We have precedence for all of this.
EDOM: Isa 34: 4 All the host of heaven shall be dissolved, And the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll; All their host shall fall down As the leaf falls from the vine, And as fruit falling from a fig tree. 5 “For My sword shall be bathed in heaven; Indeed it shall come down on Edom, And on the people of My curse, for judgment.
BABYLON: Isa 13: The burden against Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw. 9 Behold, the day of the Lord comes, Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, To lay the land desolate; And He will destroy its sinners from it. 10 For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not give their light; The sun will be darkened in its going forth, And the moon will not cause its light to shine. 11 “I will punish the world for its evil, And the wicked for their iniquity...
EGYPT Ezek 32: 7 When I put out your light, I will cover the heavens, and make its stars dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, And the moon shall not give her light. 8 All the bright lights of the heavens I will make dark over you, And bring darkness upon your land,”
Says the Lord God. 9 ‘I will also trouble the hearts of many peoples, when I bring your destruction among the nations, into the countries which you have not known. 10 Yes, I will make many peoples astonished at you, and their kings shall be horribly afraid of you when I brandish My sword before them; and they shall tremble every moment, every man for his own life, in the day of your fall.
‘For thus says the Lord God: “The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon you. 12 By the swords of the mighty warriors, all of them the most terrible of the nations, I will cause your multitude to fall. “They shall plunder the pomp of Egypt ,all its multitude shall be destroyed.
ISRAEL Joel 2: Blow the trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; For the day of the Lord is coming, For it is at hand: 2 A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness, Like the morning clouds spread over the mountains. A people come, great and strong, The like of whom has never been; Nor will there ever be any such after them, Even for many successive generations.
These "cosmic disturbances" did not mean the earth and universe was coming to an end. So when we see the same or similar language to discuss the return of Jesus in Mat 24 or Rev 6 against Israel and Jerusalem, we should not be shocked. We have precedence for all of this.
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