Why is the end times so important?

[louis]

Nearly every book (and maybe every book) in the bible seems to touch upon the end times.
These data, however, were mostly not meant for people in prior generations to comprehend.
Even Daniel was told that the events shown him regarding the end times were sealed until the end times, at which time they would then be unsealed, with their understanding increasing among the faithful.
So why does the Lord feel it so important that we, who are supposedly the final generation, should increase in our understanding about the end times?

Daniel 12:4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

9 And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.

 

[Demi777]

Because the end times peepare u towards the end and hell will break loose and we have to be prepared

 

[GraceAndTruth]

The people who understood the symbolism used by John to warn of coming events were the churches John wrote to. It was the warning so they could understand what was to happen soon. As John said, those events would shortly take place.

The best reason in the world to read and understand Revelation is to see God's prophecy in history. Faith affirming and a blessing to the reader. And John did write this while on Patmos, so it had to be done before 68AD.

 

[tanakh]

Nearly every book (and maybe every book) in the bible seems to touch upon the end times.
These data, however, were mostly not meant for people in prior generations to comprehend.
Even Daniel was told that the events shown him regarding the end times were sealed until the end times, at which time they would then be unsealed, with their understanding increasing among the faithful.
So why does the Lord feel it so important that we, who are supposedly the final generation, should increase in our understanding about the end times?

Daniel 12:4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

9 And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.

There are many things in the Bible that are hidden often in plain sight from from unbelievers and also from thebelievers who are not yet ready to comprehend them. I believe that everything God has to say to us is already in the Bible and the Holy Spirit will reveal it to each of us when he time is right line upon line and precept upon precept.

 

[louis]

Because the end times peepare u towards the end and hell will break loose and we have to be prepared

I also agree that we should prepare for the end times.

 

[louis]

The people who understood the symbolism used by John to warn of coming events were the churches John wrote to. It was the warning so they could understand what was to happen soon. As John said, those events would shortly take place.

The best reason in the world to read and understand Revelation is to see God's prophecy in history. Faith affirming and a blessing to the reader. And John did write this while on Patmos, so it had to be done before 68AD.

While the first three chapters in Revelation were directed to the seven churches in Asia Minor at the time in the first century AD, and are also meant for all churches since to also overcome our carnal inclinations; following chapters in Revelation regard events after the first century as indicated in Revelation 4:1.
As such, I do not believe the churches in the first century knew what the ten headed beast in Revelation 13 represented.

Revelation 4:1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.

 

[iamsoandso]

If you run down the list of eschatological positions viewed by the major religions and Christianity then it jumps out why(imo)

Next event in world history...
The Jews don't believe Jesus is the Messiah so when the man of sin comes they will think he is and follow him.
The Islamic's do believe Isa(Jesus) is the promised Jewish Messiah but not the son of God and that Isa(Jesus) will return to announce their Mahdi.

From the Christian point of view some believe that the MOS,2nd return ect. is in the past so if they are incorrect and the MOS comes and his mark then they will see nothing in it and receive it. Others believe the next event is Jesus second return and they will be raptured and then the beast and MOS so if incorrect and the MOS comes and says he is Jesus they will see him as Jesus and worship him as returning with him.

In ad70 Jerusalem was destroyed and it's peoples sent into slavery the world continued on in it's time line and in 1948 because of ww2 the state of Israel was set back up as Israel in Palestine and here we are in 2018 70 years after it's rebirth as a nation. Now in the scriptures is an image of the beast that was and it rises up and causes all to worship it but who is it.

Not many would see any government on earth as the new Jerusalem from God that descends from Heaven. It is called Jerusalem,Israel or they wont have it. If they build a temple in Cuba and say it's the third temple no one will see it as such nor will the Jews send their priest to it because it's gentile so it has to be in Jerusalem and who goes in it has to be a Jew.

So there is the Jerusalem of God that descends from Heaven and most only look for it in end time eschatology. Again there is a beast kingdom and a false Messiah who sets up a kingdom and causes the earth to see it as God and from God and how they all see the events will determine if they see him as God and worship him and receive his mark in place of being sealed by having the fathers name written in their foreheads. So why is it important, some will see themselves as receiving the name of the Father in their foreheads but instead willfully receive the mark of the beast.

 

[GraceAndTruth]

While the first three chapters in Revelation were directed to the seven churches in Asia Minor at the time in the first century AD, and are also meant for all churches since to also overcome our carnal inclinations; following chapters in Revelation regard events after the first century as indicated in Revelation 4:1.
As such, I do not believe the churches in the first century knew what the ten headed beast in Revelation 13 represented.

Revelation 4:1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.

You have absolutely NOTHING to back up the OPINION that John wrote his revelation to ALL the churches. And definitely NOT to future churches.

Yes the churches would know what the 10 headed beast was (Rome's 10 conquored nations) as well as the rest of the symbols.

I would say that those 7 churches shared that information with the other churches as they were all passing the letters of the apostles among themselves. ie: Rome, Jerusalem

 

[louis]

There are many things in the Bible that are hidden often in plain sight from from unbelievers and also from thebelievers who are not yet ready to comprehend them. I believe that everything God has to say to us is already in the Bible and the Holy Spirit will reveal it to each of us when he time is right line upon line and precept upon precept.

I agree, there are many things hidden in plain sight in scriptures that are often overlooked.
I find that the Lord has provided numerous descriptions of the same events in different areas of the bible that help in better understanding what is being described.
A basic example being: in Daniel 7:25 we see the saints overcome by the ten headed beasts mouth, for a time, times, and dividing of time.
This description of time appears in only two other areas of the bible, in Daniel 12:7 as a time, times, and an half, and in Revelation 12:14, as a time, and times, and half a time, to which Revelation 12:6 describes consists of 1,260 days.
As such we can then do the math where 1 time, + 2 times, + 1/2 time = 3.5 times
1,260 days divided by 3.5 times = 360 days per each time.

In short we are to put the data the Lord has given us throughout the bible with other data with similar descriptions.
It's sort of like connecting the dots in a picture puzzle, which when connected correctly provides a very clear picture.

 

[Magenta]

God loves us and wants us to live.

 

[louis]

If you run down the list of eschatological positions viewed by the major religions and Christianity then it jumps out why(imo)

Next event in world history...
The Jews don't believe Jesus is the Messiah so when the man of sin comes they will think he is and follow him.
The Islamic's do believe Isa(Jesus) is the promised Jewish Messiah but not the son of God and that Isa(Jesus) will return to announce their Mahdi.

From the Christian point of view some believe that the MOS,2nd return ect. is in the past so if they are incorrect and the MOS comes and his mark then they will see nothing in it and receive it. Others believe the next event is Jesus second return and they will be raptured and then the beast and MOS so if incorrect and the MOS comes and says he is Jesus they will see him as Jesus and worship him as returning with him.

In ad70 Jerusalem was destroyed and it's peoples sent into slavery the world continued on in it's time line and in 1948 because of ww2 the state of Israel was set back up as Israel in Palestine and here we are in 2018 70 years after it's rebirth as a nation. Now in the scriptures is an image of the beast that was and it rises up and causes all to worship it but who is it.

Not many would see any government on earth as the new Jerusalem from God that descends from Heaven. It is called Jerusalem,Israel or they wont have it. If they build a temple in Cuba and say it's the third temple no one will see it as such nor will the Jews send their priest to it because it's gentile so it has to be in Jerusalem and who goes in it has to be a Jew.

So there is the Jerusalem of God that descends from Heaven and most only look for it in end time eschatology. Again there is a beast kingdom and a false Messiah who sets up a kingdom and causes the earth to see it as God and from God and how they all see the events will determine if they see him as God and worship him and receive his mark in place of being sealed by having the fathers name written in their foreheads. So why is it important, some will see themselves as receiving the name of the Father in their foreheads but instead willfully receive the mark of the beast.

While I am aware of the scripture describing the man of sin who will come with all the workings of Satan (2 Thessalonians 2:9);... we are then to not just make up a hypothesis what this means from our own imaginings, or better said, from Satan's false illumination, through which he deceives the whole world.
We are instead supposed to find other scriptures the Lord provides us on this individual and put them together, through which we can then derive a clearer picture as to who he is, and what he represents. There are too many scriptures about him to elaborate fully upon here, but a couple of basic examples are that he is the ten headed beasts mouth and little horn in Daniel 7 and 8, who is also the ten horned beasts mouth in Revelation 13 who overcomes the saints. Correlations, connecting the dots in scriptures to get a clearer picture; and not one of conjecture without scriptures which may very well be false illumination from Satan (2 Corinthians 11:14).

2 Thessalonians 2:9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,

2 Corinthians 11:14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

 

[louis]

You have absolutely NOTHING to back up the OPINION that John wrote his revelation to ALL the churches. And definitely NOT to future churches.

Yes the churches would know what the 10 headed beast was (Rome's 10 conquored nations) as well as the rest of the symbols.

I would say that those 7 churches shared that information with the other churches as they were all passing the letters of the apostles among themselves. ie: Rome, Jerusalem

GraceAndTruth,
Rather than respond as do most here with conjecture, a response with the Word in support for your claim would go a lot further.
I'm off to lunch now, back in an hour or two.

 

[iamsoandso]

While I am aware of the scripture describing the man of sin who will come with all the workings of Satan (2 Thessalonians 2:9);... we are then to not just make up a hypothesis what this means from our own imaginings, or better said, from Satan's false illumination, through which he deceives the whole world.
We are instead supposed to find other scriptures the Lord provides us on this individual and put them together, through which we can then derive a clearer picture as to who he is, and what he represents. There are too many scriptures about him to elaborate fully upon here, but a couple of basic examples are that he is the ten headed beasts mouth and little horn in Daniel 7 and 8, who is also the ten horned beasts mouth in Revelation 13 who overcomes the saints. Correlations, connecting the dots in scriptures to get a clearer picture; and not one of conjecture without scriptures which may very well be false illumination from Satan (2 Corinthians 11:14).

2 Thessalonians 2:9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,

2 Corinthians 11:14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

I agree and was trying to address the O.P. thread title in "why is..." by giving examples of the many different views of the way the end times are seen by the different religions. In short since they all see this different(next end time event) they will all react to it different. So it depends on who comes next Jesus or the MOS. So it's very important to undestand the next event to take place to keep from being deceived.

 

[RickyZ]

Nearly every book (and maybe every book) in the bible seems to touch upon the end times.
These data, however, were mostly not meant for people in prior generations to comprehend.
Even Daniel was told that the events shown him regarding the end times were sealed until the end times, at which time they would then be unsealed, with their understanding increasing among the faithful.
So why does the Lord feel it so important that we, who are supposedly the final generation, should increase in our understanding about the end times?

Daniel 12:4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

9 And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.

Jesus said that in the end when it hits the fan many will turn away from Him because they are not prepared to face what is coming. I assume God wrote so much about it to prepare us as much as possible for what's ahead. This I'm pretty sure of.

As for Daniel, now this is a theory, but I believe he was taking advantage of his position in the heavens to look down upon things he wasn't meant to see, and that's why he was told not to speak of it. I also theorize that he was looking upon the things that would later be shown to John and written/revealed in Revelations. But again, that is conjecture and I could be wrong.

 

[cv5]

The people who understood the symbolism used by John to warn of coming events were the churches John wrote to. It was the warning so they could understand what was to happen soon. As John said, those events would shortly take place.

The best reason in the world to read and understand Revelation is to see God's prophecy in history. Faith affirming and a blessing to the reader. And John did write this while on Patmos, so it had to be done before 68AD.

Absolutely wrong. The events are future, and worldwide in scope and magnitude.
You cannot shoehorn Revelation into the two years between 68 and 70 AD.

 

[RickyZ]

As for those who believe it was all said and done in 70 ad and therefore these prophecies are now moot and meaningless, I think you are wrong. I think these words apply to both then and now. And here's why:

God offered the Messiah to the Jews. They rejected Him and suffered for it in 70 AD. God then offered the Christ to the world. The world is now rejecting Him, and will suffer for it in the near future. Past and future interpretations are not mutually exclusive.

 

[cv5]

As for those who believe it was all said and done in 70 ad and therefore these prophecies are now moot and meaningless, I think you are wrong. I think these words apply to both then and now. And here's why:

God offered the Messiah to the Jews. They rejected Him and suffered for it in 70 AD. God then offered the Christ to the world. The world is now rejecting Him, and will suffer for it in the near future. Past and future interpretations are not mutually exclusive.

I think these words apply to both then and now.

Correct. They application to the Churches were immediate as well as future.
Christ is addressing the Churches and commanding repentance....immediate and continual until the end of the age.

 

[RickyZ]

I think these words apply to both then and now.

Correct. They application to the Churches were immediate as well as future.
Christ is addressing the Churches and commanding repentance....immediate and continual until the end of the age.

I've always said, if you find a scripture you think does not apply to you, rip that page out. Then after a year of that look at how much of God's word you've dismissed as irrelevant.

 

[cv5]

I've always said, if you find a scripture you think does not apply to you, rip that page out. Then after a year of that look at how much of God's word you've dismissed as irrelevant.

An invalid accusation as far as I am concerned. And meaningless in the context of the debate.

 

[cv5]

I've always said, if you find a scripture you think does not apply to you, rip that page out. Then after a year of that look at how much of God's word you've dismissed as irrelevant.

If you do not think that indeed these are the end times, and judgment is just around the corner, you are out of touch with biblical reality, prophecy and current events.